Hershey sued by New York man over ‘unsafe’ levels of metal in chocolate | New York

A lawsuit filed in New York state alleges that the confectionary giant Hershey “fails to disclose” that some of its chocolate products “contain unsafe levels of lead and cadmium”.

A New York man, Christopher Lazazzaro, filed the suit in Long Island federal court on 28 December. The suit against the mass-market chocolatier, which in 1988 acquired the license to produce Cadbury products in the US, seeks class-action status.

The suit came two weeks after Consumer Reports published an article claiming some Hershey dark chocolate products exceeded California standards for the maximum allowable dose level (MADL) for lead and cadmium.

There are no federal lead and cadmium limits for most foods. Consumer Reports scientists used California standards, as they deemed them “the most protective available”. The report said lead content in the Hershey Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate bar exceeded the California MADL.

The lawsuit filed in New York cites other Hershey items highlighted in the Consumer Reports exposé, including Lily’s Extra Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa and Lily’s Extremely Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa.

Hershey’s acquired Lily’s in June 2021 for $425m, according to the company.

The suit contends that consumers look to product packaging and labels before making a purchase. It alleges that Hershey’s advertising and marketing are “false, deceptive and misleading” because they do not disclose the alleged high levels of lead and cadmium.

“High levels of lead and cadmium in food products is material to reasonable consumers, because these chemicals pose serious health risk, even in small dosages,” the suit contends.

Consumers had no independent way of knowing about the lead and cadmium content of the Hershey products before buying them, the suit says, as the levels cannot be determined “without extensive and expensive scientific testing”.

Customers therefore rely on Hershey to be “truthful regarding the ingredients including the existence of lead and cadmium, in the products”, the suit says.

The suit alleges that Hershey “knew and could not be unaware of the existence of lead and cadmium in the products”, given that it sources its ingredients and makes its products with “exclusive knowledge of the quality control testing on the products and the ingredients contained therein”.

Lazazzaro claims to have believed he was buying products that contained “only dark chocolate ingredients”, and therefore “paid a premium” to do so. Because of alleged “misrepresentations and omissions” about the presence of heavy metals, Lazazzaro claims he and other consumers “suffered an injury in the amount of the premium paid”.

Hershey and attorneys for Lazazzaro did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Lazazzaro does not appear to allege that he suffered lead poisoning from eating Hershey chocolate. The lawsuit is focused on alleged wrongdoing relating to marketing practices.

Exposure to high levels of lead can cause health problems including anemia and weakness. Extreme cases of lead poisoning can cause kidney and brain damage. Children exposed to lead are at risk of brain and nervous system damage and learning and behavioral issues, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cadmium can be dangerous when ingested in large amounts, the CDC says.