U.S. News
Hershey faces lawsuit over chocolate’s heavy metal content
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- A lawsuit has been filed against Hershey’s over the harmful levels of heavy metals in its dark chocolate bars.
- New York customer Christopher Lazazzaro argued that consumers wouldn’t have purchased products with a “serious health risk.”
- The suit accused the company of lacking transparency about its products’ ingredients.
The Hershey Company (HSY.N) is facing a lawsuit over allegations that it continues to sell dark chocolate despite it containing harmful levels of heavy metals such as cadmium and lead.
Christopher Lazazzaro argued that he would not have purchased such chocolate or would have paid less had the company disclosed its products’ metal content.
He specifically named the following products: Hershey’s Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate, Lily’s Extreme Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa, and Lily’s Extra Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa. Hershey acquired the Lily’s confectionery brand in June 2021 for $425 million.
Lazazzaro, a resident of Nassau County, New York, filed the proposed class action suit on Wednesday in the federal court in Central Islip, New York.
Dark chocolate has been popular among health-conscious consumers since it contains relatively low levels of sugar and antioxidants that could help prevent cardiovascular disease.
Lazazzaro’s filing came two weeks after Consumer Reports revealed the results of lead and cadmium tests on 28 dark chocolate bars.
According to the report, all 28 contained the heavy metals, but 23 of them contained potentially harmful levels of lead, cadmium, or both for people who eat one ounce of chocolate a day. These included chocolate bars from Lindt, Godiva, Dove, and Trader Joe’s.
Hershey’s Special Dark bar and Lily’s 70% bar contained high levels of lead, and Lily’s 85% bar contained high levels of lead and cadmium.
Lazazzaro pointed out that such levels pose a “serious health risk” that would have reasonably turned off consumers who rely on the company to be transparent about its products’ ingredients.
The lawsuit, Lazazzaro v Hershey Co, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 22-07923, seeks at least $5 million of damages, which includes at least $500 per transaction under New York law.
Source: Reuters
Lynda Stock Halcott
January 2, 2023 at 6:48 pm
Just curious…. what about Ghirardelli intense dark 86% dark chocolate?
Ron C
January 2, 2023 at 6:57 pm
See there is no reason to try to be healthy, it will just kill you, enjoy your life while you are here, because everyone dies anyway, no one lives forever!
Milt Heger
January 2, 2023 at 7:13 pm
I gave a Christmas gift of a huge Hershey’s mildly sweet dark chocolate ‘bar’. It has not been touched.
Now what?
Walt j
January 2, 2023 at 7:20 pm
Better check See’s also.
VINCE PINDELL
January 2, 2023 at 7:53 pm
I have eaten Hershey’s dark chocolate for years and have had cancer twice so is Hershey’s trying to kill me ????
Robert Hill
January 2, 2023 at 8:02 pm
Guess it is time for class action suit,,, I have been eating Hershey dark as a health supplement,,, now developed dementia????
Phil V.
January 2, 2023 at 8:10 pm
I know this is considered quite outlandish, but I have been concerned about foods processed by these large conglomerates who are members of the World Economic Forum, since their publicly stated goal is to reduce the population of the world. I hope someone with the funds to do so start checking many of the foods out there, for ingredients like this!! Perhaps the lawyers who prosecute this case will have the funds to just generally check ingredients of our food. I think they might find some surprises! I don’t think the FDA is trustworthy anymore to do their job! Money seems to easily bribe these organizations out of doing their stated jobs!!
By the way, my wife started detecting something rancid or bad in the taste of many foods. We don’t know what she is tasting but if she detects it, she does not eat whatever it is. This began about a year or so ago.
dhu mhan yhu
January 2, 2023 at 9:54 pm
we thought same thing & figured it was just us. I agree about the WEF. A sinister group.
Uncle Art
January 2, 2023 at 11:10 pm
So a lawsuit for 5 million dollars plus a $500 per transaction Wich I would like to know exactly what that means…
But anyway this is one guy that is paving the way to a class action lawsuit . Wonder how much he will settle for to STFU and go away.
In the meantime you know they trying to get this shut down and not pay anything. Let’s see how the system is going to favor big business depending on what judge it’s in front of.
I’m also thinking & believe the payoffs are already underway
mhs
January 3, 2023 at 10:51 am
I wonder if this applies to Hershey’s Nuggets too. I’ve been eating them and other Hershey’s Mildly Sweet Dark Chocolate products for years.