How to navigate the chocolate crisis

Dark-chocolate lovers who bake now and then need to read this

Happy Friday, health-conscious cook!

A few months ago, I purged my kitchen of all my favorite chocolate: organic Theo bars in myriad fabulous flavors; Valhrona cocoa powder; the Trader Joe’s organic bars that were great for baking. It was painful, but had to be done. The big question: Would I be able to find suitable replacements, or would I have to give up chocolate nibbling and baking in the name of health?

If you’re scratching your head and wondering what the hell this is all about, you probably missed a story back in February in the New York Times with the headline “Do I Need to Avoid Dark Chocolate Now?” WTF??? (Don’t worry if you hit a NYT paywall; I’ll explain.) As the article’s deck said, “A recent report found high concentrations of cadmium and lead in dark chocolate. There’s no reason to panic, experts say, but it’s worth a closer look.”

I took a much closer look, following links to several studies, and found that we dark-chocolate lovers have a serious issue. Those of us who enjoy a square of 72% or 85% cacao dark chocolate in the evening, who make chocolate desserts now and then, and who care about our health and the health of others need to make some important changes. Read on for solutions (and recipes!), but first let me explain the problem.

The NYT story referred to a Consumer Reports investigation that found “dangerous heavy metals in chocolate from Hershey's, Theo, Trader Joe's, and other popular brands,” and then listed those that are the most dangerous, and a few that are “safer.”

This is not some hyper-woke over-reaction; this is lead and cadmium — heavy metals that are dangerous for everyone, and especially for women of child-bearing age.

My beloved fair-trade, organic, frequently on-sale-at-the-supermarket Theo — dangerous! A drawer in our kitchen was always kept stocked with flavors like Organic Salted Almond, Organic Coconut, Organic Sea Salt — all 70% cacao, or our favorite of all, 85% cacao extra-dark. Apparently we’d been poisoning ourselves most evenings for decades. And Trader Joe's bars, which I’d use for big baking jobs if the Theo wasn’t on sale. That expensive tin of Valrhona cocoa powder that I purchased because Dorie Greenspan wrote that it’s what she prefers: all dangerous.

I checked Consumer Reports list of “safer” products, and cross-referenced it again with a much more thorough one I found on the website of As You Sow, a California-based nonprofit devoted to environmental and corporate responsibility. Then I headed to the supermarket, and came up with the following: A selection of widely available dark chocolate products that are much safer (apparently) than all that dreamy stuff I threw away.