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I love Tony's, but they're also reportedly higher in lead content than other brands.
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/
Valrhona is a solid non-American brand pick from the list of safer chocolate and they're B-Corp certified. I believe their parents company is French.
When it comes to chocolate you're often forced to pick your poison, so to speak.
Lead and cadmium come from cocoa plants. Tony’s might have more because it has a higher cocoa percentage
What's b corp certified?
In the UK, B labs certifies companies they meet their requirements for social responsibility, environmental stuff etc. I don't know the details but the companies I've seen that have B corp status seem to care about doing nice stuff, so I consider it a plus.
This is for dark chocolate only, and the article has them listed as one of the lowest lead brands. Crazy that they're all so high though, WTF!
A fair point! Didn't even occur to me since I only bother with the dark stuff lol
They're the lowest listed of the "high lead content" category. So kind of the best of the worst for it, I suppose.
TIL chocolate can have lead...jfc
Everything has lead.
Fucking woke BS, ChIlD sLaVeRy. Let the childern work, we need Chocolate!
/s
the children YEARN for the nestle mines, we NEED that chocolate
mines
Everyone knows chocolate is hunted! /s
I think chocolate is just the distilled blood and tears of third world children. Wait, that's nestle only? Damn, it must grow on trees then.
I was under the impression that Tony’s is working towards a chocolate industry without child labor and forced labor. But the issue is quite complex and they’re not there yet.
Not saying they’re bad. It seems that they’re doing what they can and according to their website they “lead by example”. But I’m not sure if they make any promises about a 100% child labor / forced labor free supply chain at this moment.
The above could be outdated, maybe they’ve achieved their objectives for their own supply chain already. But I can’t find it on their website atm.
Previously they claimed no slave labor for many years.
They audited their supply chain every year, but eventually found that no matter the claims of their suppliers and auditors, they were finding instances of child labor.
So they’ve updated their stance and are actively working to change the industry
Here’s an article from 2022 covering the issue
I think it used to say "as little slavery as possible" or something like that but I don't see that written out anymore, just implied.
From the inside of one I just opened:
Also
lead by example
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/
mfw
That consumer reports link. YIKES!
It used to say "slave free" (yes, without a hyphen because apparently they know better than 4 translators) but now it says they try to be as slave free as possible.
It actually doesn't even say that anymore, it's even more vague now. Thats what I was trying to show with the picture
Aside from the activism stuff, Tonys just tastes how good chocolate should taste.
yup, my goto these days.
I discovered Tony's Chocoloney a few months ago, and I really love it. I can get it at my local supermarket as well. Great to see them on here!
Also it's pretty good. I didn't know I liked milk chocolate, because Hershey's is disgusting. Tony's is objectively a better tasting product.
Well there's your problem, in the Netherlands (and other places) Hershey milk 'chocolate' isn't legally chocolate. It needs at least 35% cacao to be called chocolate. It would be called 'Cacao fantasy' here instead. So no wonder you think it's shit chocolate, cause it isn't chocolate to begin with
That's like saying "I didn't know I liked olives because faeces from people who have eaten olives is disgusting". Hershey's is widely hated for a reason, it shouldn't be legal to sell.
As an American: you guys eat American chocolate?
I always identified American chocolate with a stronger taste of butyric acid, which made it less appealing to me.
That rancid stuff? No ty
I mean there is also a big difference between American brands in the US and the EU. Last time I went to the US, I brought back snickers, Twix, and KitKats. Then I bought the EU alternative and set up a double blinded taste test with my friends.
Without fail we all immediately were able to tell them apart. The American version was chalky and tasted like pure sugar. The EU version, albeit also nowhere near Tony quality and still very sweet, was much higher quality and you could taste the individual components of the candy. It was not just a sweet punch in the face.
I worked in a Nabisco factory a decade ago in the US making Oreo.
They've consistently looked for cost cutting measures to reduce the amount of cocoa powder (expensive input) put into the product. What happened when I was there was they would look for a new vendor that would offer stronger cocoa flavor profile per kg and then use that as a justification to cut the amount of cocoa powder in the product. To mask it they would amp up the sweetness.
In a blind test, a normal people can't tell the difference year to year, but if you compare it to what it was ten years ago, there would be a noticeable difference.
As to the last paragraph. Totally right that we don't notice the gradual change right away, but I don't think I'm alone in thinking everything just kind of tastes like shit now. Everything. Produce isn't good, meats aren't good, groceries are completely fucked. The entire food industry has been tinkered with by greedy bastards for so long it's just all garbage now.
No
I love Tony's as much as the next guy. However, be aware that a test conducted in 2022 found high levels of lead in Chocolonely Dark Chocolate variant.
Consistent, long-term exposure to even small amounts of heavy metals can lead to a variety of health problems. The danger is greatest for pregnant people and young children because the metals can cause developmental problems, affect brain development, and lead to lower IQ, says Tunde Akinleye, the CR food safety researcher who led this testing project.
I hate that my choices are Expensive, Evil, or Doesn't Taste Good when it comes to so many products.
Which applies for you with this brand? I love the taste, but would admit it's a fair chunk of my weekly groceries total.
Never bought it, because yes it's too pricey. I don't buy chocolate often to begin with, but I'm never willing to try this because it's so much more than everything else.
FYI: Check if whatever brand you like also works with Tony's for their supply chain. For example Jumbo (NL supermarket) sources their chocolate from Tony's and there's quite a lot more partners.
https://www.tonysopenchain.com/ Found the partners
I'll add them right now
As an American this is also what I buy. Good stuff. Support them 💪
For Norway: you can buy these at Normal. Much cheaper than getting them shipped.