Lead and cadmium content in cocoa beans (short communication)

The choice of cocoa beans as the experimental and sample material for study of the contamination with lead and cadmium was inspired by high Pb and Cd limits in foods made on its basis (cocoa powder, chocolate) as well as by the relatively high proportion of these foods in human nutrition. For Cd, the limits in food products are within the range of 0.01 mg X kg-1 (milk) to 1.0 mg X kg-1 (kidneys) whereas the limits for lead range between 0.1 mg X kg-1 (e.g. milk) and 10.0 mg X kg-1 (e.g. tea, yeast, crustaceans, molluscs). Limits for Pb and Cd in foods made on cocoa bean basis are given in Table 1.