Chocolate Manufacturers Sued Over Toxic Metals

Claiming that chocolate contains enough toxic metals such as lead to pose a health risk, especially for children, a California watchdog group Wednesday launched a lawsuit against major chocolate makers for failing to warn consumers of the alleged danger.

The American Environmental Safety Institute said it is suing chocolate makers, including Hershey Foods Corp. and Mars Inc., for not disclosing that their products contain enough lead and cadmium to pose a serious health risk--a disclosure required by California law.

The chocolate companies dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous and alarmist, saying the amount of lead and cadmium in candy bars and instant hot chocolate is no more than in other common foods because the metals are naturally occurring.

“People have been eating chocolate safely for hundreds of years,” said Michele Corash, an attorney for the Chocolate Manufacturers Assn.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, charges Nestle USA Inc., Kraft Foods North America Inc., Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. and See’s Candies Inc. with violating California’s Proposition 65, a consumer health law that requires warnings to be given to individuals before they are exposed to hazardous chemicals.

The California’s attorney general’s office found that lead in chocolate products is not caused by human activity. The law exempts food makers whose products contain toxic chemicals that are not added during production.

Hershey Foods closed down 23 cents at $68.06 on the New York Stock Exchange. Kraft closed down 67 cents at $39.24, also on the NYSE.