Is Supermarket Chocolate Toxic?

Written by Bryan Johnson • 10.18.2024

Dark chocolate has many health benefits.

However, it can be high in heavy metals. Heavy metals can cause cancer, high blood pressure, kidney disease and low sperm count - things you don't want. The problem is companies don't tell you how much heavy metals are in their products.

I tested 10 supermarket chocolates to determine how good or bad they are for you. I gave each chocolate a score based on total flavanols divided by total heavy metals, and ranked them from worst to best.

Scorecard for the Vosges Haut Chocolat Black Salt Caramel bar, ranked 1 of 10: 159.1 mg flavanols, 2.0 µg heavy metals, overall score 78

Scorecard for the Ritter Sport Dark Whole Hazelnuts bar, ranked 2 of 10: 131.9 mg flavanols, 2.31 µg heavy metals, overall score 57

Scorecard for the Hu Simple Dark Chocolate bar, ranked 3 of 10: 261.1 mg flavanols, 5.43 µg heavy metals, overall score 48

Scorecard for the Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa dark chocolate bar, ranked 4 of 10: 174.9 mg flavanols, 4.5 µg heavy metals, overall score 39

Scorecard for the Lily's Original Dark Chocolate bar, ranked 5 of 10: 169.6 mg flavanols, 4.38 µg heavy metals, overall score 39

Scorecard for the Tony's Chocolonely dark chocolate bar, ranked 6 of 10: 217.5 mg flavanols, 5.91 µg heavy metals, overall score 37

Scorecard for the Beyond Good Pure Dark 70% Cocoa bar, ranked 7 of 10: 82.2 mg flavanols, 4.6 µg heavy metals, overall score 18

Scorecard for the Theo Organic Pure Dark 70% bar, ranked 8 of 10: 163.7 mg flavanols, 11.1 µg heavy metals, overall score 15 \

Scorecard for the Alter Eco Total Blackout 100% Cacao bar, ranked 9 of 10: 210.5 mg flavanols, 14.7 µg heavy metals, overall score 14

Scorecard for the Alter Eco Classic Blackout 85% Cacao bar, ranked 10 of 10: 140.5 mg flavanols, 10.6 µg heavy metals, overall score 13

When I learned how dirty the mainstream food supply was, I started sourcing my own food, including cocoa. Blueprint Cocoa has 537mg flavanols and 2.9 µg heavy metals. The final score for Blueprint Cocoa is 180, over double the number one position of the supermarket brands. You can see the CoA for our Cocoa here.

It's critically important to know what you're eating and to have data on the cleanliness and the positive benefits of your food. As always, I don't care if you buy from me. I share all my research so you have the resources to go out and buy your own products. I want you to be healthy and happy. If Blueprint can be part of that, great. If not, do your thing.

A last note on the companies that we tested; this is not a takedown, this is not to shame them. We live in a vast food ecosystem and it’s very challenging for providers to achieve clean food. Transparency in our food supply chain is a good thing for everybody.

Nobody wins when our food supply is dirty. Nobody wins when we're unhealthy.

Be well,

Bryan

Disclaimer: this blog is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.