[SethTro]

From my reading the disagreement is about how often or much chocolate people consume. The thresholds (MADL, EU) are in µg/day and the Consumer Reports numbers are in µg/serving.

Arstechnica somewhat bridges this gap at the end with quotes including "at these intake levels", "A single serving", "from time to time", "indulging during holidays".

[Retric]

The issue with lead is you can have a sub clinical amount from a dozen or even a hundred sources and end up with significant issues. Thus the threshold needs to be set extremely low for any individual source.

Arstechnica is really understating the risks here. While global chocolate consumption is 7.2 million metric tons that isn’t split evenly among 8 billion people resulting in 1.8kg/person per year instead the majority of the global population is 0-0.5kg/person and the rest is increasingly concentrated.

It’s not that uncommon to find someone eating a 1.6oz Hershey chocolate bar per day or the equivalent amount in whatever brand they prefer. If they happen to like an unusually high concentration brand the amount on its own might not seem concerning but it combines with every other source in their life and their lifetime accumulation from other sources.

[sparker72678]

For someone in the upper 1% of chocolate consumption, lead intake via chocolate is unlikely to be anywhere near the top of their list of health risk factors.

[Retric]

It could easily be the largest risk factor from chocolate.

In Switzerland the average person is consuming 8.8kg/year (22lb), and the country is quite healthy by international standards. They have the lowest obesity rate in Europe and and half that of America which averages significantly lower levels of chocolate consumption.

[henearkr]

Why? Eating very dark chocolate does not increase other morbidity factors.

I'm one of these ones. Sometimes eating two bars of 98% chocolate per day. Sometimes more.

The fats in it are not unhealthy, and the sugar amount is also very low.

[kyriakos]

Depends, you may consume cocoa but not chocolate. Heavy metals are still there.

[thorum]

What are you basing that on?

[newZWhoDis]

>Arstechnica is really understating the risks here.

Glad to see my Ars ban in 2015 was ahead of the curve, and sad they are still churning out the same garbage that got them blacklisted in the first place.

[pests]

> instead the majority of the global population is 0-0.5kg/person

Count me closer to that 0 number. I can't think of the last time I ate any chocolate. Never was much into sweets or snacking.

> It’s not that uncommon to find someone eating a 1.6oz Hershey chocolate bar per day

I can think of two acquaintances who consume at least that a day.

[nomel]

> Never was much into sweets

Not all chocolate is sweet. I would claim that none of the good stuff is. The bars I used to eat, before stopping for the heavy metals, had 7 grams of sugar.

[newZWhoDis]

I mean cool, that’s great. You still get up and drive around/go out to eat surrounded by people who live in your society and make average choices.

All of them being lead poisoned effects you, even if “well hurr durr I don’t eat chocolate so I’m fine”

Which is the vibe your comment is radiating

[pests]

My comment had nothing to do with lead nor did it imply "im fine because i dont eat any."

I was simply agreeing with the statistics and analysis of the average chocolate consumption.

[henearkr]

Exactly, so as an abnormally avid chocolate consumer, I'm still scared (and even more than before reading Arstechnica's take).

[nomel]

I used to eat a large bar of very dark, high quality, chocolate per day (having to constantly explain to onlookers that the whole bar had the sam sugar as a half cup of milk). I’m sure I was in the 99th percentile for cocoa. I stopped when I saw this coming a few years ago.

[pugio]

That's me exactly. I used to eat half a bar of 85% - 100% dark daily. The (relatively) recent info on heavy metals has me really bummed. Why is everything always so toxic these days???

My new goal is to figure out how to get all this heavy metal accumulation out of me (I've been eating heavy dark chocolate regularly for years), and find ways I can keep eating chocolate without absorbing more. Some studies I've read mention that tomatoes might help prevent heavy metal absorption when consumed with the source.

[ip26]

It isn’t always a modern affliction. Some food plants just do this, pulling heavy metals from the soil. You’ve heard of arsenic in brown rice.

[ars]

So about that... a portion of the arsenic in the Southern US is from old pesticides used on cotton!

The only good news about that is levels are constantly dropped as it gets "used up".

However this is only a portion, in many places arsenic is just there in the ground.