Hershey's faces a lawsuit over heavy metals in its dark chocolate bars

The Hershey Co. is being sued for allegedly failing to disclose the presence of lead and cadmium in several of its dark chocolate bars. 
 
The proposed class action, brought by Christopher Lazazzaro of New York, comes two weeks after Consumer Reports sounded the alarm on dangerous heavy metals in dark chocolate bars from manufactures including Lindt, Ghirardelli and Hershey's.

For three of Hershey's dark chocolate bars, Consumer Reports said, just one ounce violates California's maximum allowable dose levels (MADL) for lead or cadmium: Hershey's Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate, Lily's Extra Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa, and Lily's Extreme Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa.

Hershey's acquired Lily's, which markets non-GMO and gluten-free chocolate, for $425 million in June 2021.

The lawsuit is seeking $5 million from Hershey's, calling its advertising and marketing campaign for the dark chocolate bars "false, deceptive, and misleading." The plaintiffs' lawyers argue that had Hershey's disclosed on its labeling that those dark chocolate bars contained lead and cadmium, Lazazzaro would not have purchased them.

"Consumers reasonably rely on the marketing and information on Defendant's labels in making purchasing decisions," the plaintiffs' lawyers said in the court filing. "By marketing the Products as containing only dark chocolate ingredients, and not disclosing the presence of cadmium and lead, Defendant misleads reasonable consumers."

Hershey's did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Source]