Hershey ‘evaluating’ if it can eliminate lead, cadmium in its chocolate: CFO
Global News
Hershey is looking to reduce "trace" amounts of lead and cadmium in its chocolate, chief financial officer Steve Voskiul told Reuters on Wednesday.
Hershey is looking to reduce “trace” amounts of lead and cadmium in its chocolate, chief financial officer Steve Voskiul told Reuters on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports found that some dark chocolate bars had potentially harmful levels of the heavy metals.
Consumer Reports, a nonprofit consumer group, tested chocolate bars including those made by Hershey late last year and found that some of them contained possibly harmful levels of lead, cadmium or both for people who eat more than one ounce per day.
The trace amounts of the metals found in some chocolate are “below any recommended level, any standard,” Voskuil said, adding that lead and cadmium are elements in soil and can naturally occur in the product.
“Depending on where you source, you may get relatively more lead or cadmium in West Africa versus South America, but in both cases it’s a naturally occurring ingredient,” Voskuil said.
“We would love to eradicate it completely and continue to look for opportunities in the process, is there more we can do there,” he said on the sidelines of the Reese’s makers’ investor day.
Consumer Reports found that Hershey’s Lily’s extremely dark chocolate 85 per cent cocoa bar was high in lead and cadmium. Its Hershey’s Special Dark mildly sweet chocolate and Lily’s extra dark chocolate 70 per cent were also high in lead according to the report.
Voskuil said the manufacturing and cleaning process for cocoa beans removes the “vast majority” of lead and cadmium.
Hershey is “evaluating” if it can remove more of the metals through additional cleaning of cocoa beans or alternate sourcing, he said.
Ontario's police watchdog says it's looking into the death of a 19-year-old man after being shot by an officer in Mississauga.
A day earlier, Quebec's anti-corruption police announced they were launching a criminal investigation of the Quebec Liberals.
The association alleges two crews were unable to properly respond to calls last weekend because some gear and trucks are out of service.
The civil claim was filed after Canadian privacy commissioners reached similar conclusions about TikTok's targeted advertising practices and age verification measures.
The federal government is using artificial intelligence to sort through public input on AI policy.
The wife of an Ontario lawyer allegedly involved in a violent transnational drug ring headed by a former Canadian Olympian says she believes in his innocence.
A federal investigation of the CEO leading the Canadian Museum of Immigration has found Marie Chapman bullied staff and created an environment of fear that caused emotional harm.
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. relation also says he has no reason to believe the Trump administration is preparing to tear up the free trade agreement.
Lisa Weir says her 86-year-old father needs to be in nursing home due to dementia, but waiting in hospital for a bed is putting his health further at risk.
Two of Canada's wealthiest families have cleared the final hurdle on the road to buying and donating the royal charter that created the Hudson's Bay Co.
Crews are working to repair a water main break in Brampton as it floods the streets Thursday morning, city officials say.
Court documents show that the 14-storey Versante Hotel was instead bought by a Hong Kong purchaser in October for the lower price of $51.5 million.
A panel of three Ontario judges heard arguments on a request by the provincial government for a judicial review of a decision handed down by the IPC last year.