If life is like a box of chocolates, then maybe we should all rethink that gift box of chocolate cannabis edibles this holiday season.
That scenario is scary because the heavy medal, even at low exposure levels, is toxic to the kidneys and to human life.
Not that that fact is any surprise to the chocolate industry.
What is relevant to the cannabis/CBD industry, Dixon explains, is that cadmium contamination is finally getting the attention it deserves because of the stringent, new cannabis-testing requirements being implemented in some states.
Screening for cadmium in mainstream chocolate treats hasn’t been a regular practice up until now, Dixon continued, in a recent interview.
Christopher Boodoosingh, founder of the Trinidad & Tobago-based chocolate company, Cocoa Republic, agreed.
A settlement was eventually established in 2018, with 31 big-name companies like Hershey’s, Ghirardelli and Godiva agreeing to establish a committee to investigate the problem and come up with solutions for chocolate makers.
Germany, for instance, Boodossingh said, has for several years had an 0.5 ppm standard, which he said is similar to California’s recently established limit.
Still, change is afoot in the United States, where California and Colorado have become models — for an increasing number of states and at some point the federal government — in imposing stringent testing regulations on their cannabis and hemp products, both at the biomass and product levels.
Responsible, private companies are also testing on their own, Dixon pointed out; and testing standards can be a motivator.
“It wasn’t until cannabis testing in California, and now more national testing standards being established on hemp, that is really helping to bring this to the surface,” Dixon said.
Among these, cadmium is of special interest because it occurs naturally and can be sucked up from the soil by cacao trees which then deposit it into their cocoa pods and beans.
An industry player like Boodoosingh keeps his eye on cadmium levels because Trinidad’s northern range lies at the end of the Andes Mountains formation.
Recognizing the resulting danger to humans consuming products made from cacao, the World Health Organization limits the amount of cadmium in dried cacao beans to 0.3 mg.