Lindt chocolate accused of dangerous levels of lead and cadmium, misleading consumers: report

Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli is facing legal scrutiny following a class action lawsuit by US-based Consumer Reports, which accuses its dark chocolate bars of containing dangerous levels of lead and cadmium.

The lawsuit was filed in February 2023 and also raised similar concerns with several other manufacturers’ chocolates, the news agency said AFP reported.

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Consumer Reports had tested 28 bars sold in the US and found that one of the Lindt bars was one of eight with high cadmium content, while another Lindt bar was one of ten others with high lead content, although none had the highest levels of both.

“Lindt & Sprungli disagrees with all allegations in the US lawsuit,” the report quoted the chocolatier in its official statement. “Our Lindt & Sprüngli quality and safety procedures ensure that all products meet all applicable safety standards and declaration requirements and are safe to consume.”

Apart from this, two of Lindt’s bars, marketed under the US brand Ghirardelli, were among five classified as ‘safer choices’.

Despite this, consumers pushed for the lawsuit to be filed against Lindt, claiming that they paid premium prices for Lindt because they believed they were purchasing “quality and safe dark chocolate.”

They further accused Lindt of violating US labeling regulations.

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Lindt’s lawyers claimed that the words “excellence” and “skillfully crafted with the finest ingredients” on the packaging were “inflated” against which no legal action could be taken.

This refers to an “exaggerated endorsement, especially for promotional purposes,” according to a Merriam-Webster definition.

However, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied Lindt’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Moreover, this line of defense has also startled many Swiss news media, as the country is very attached to its reputation as a producer of quality goods. The weekly NZZ am Sonntag said Lindt’s strategy “dismantled its own promises of quality.”

Lindt, on the other hand, emphasized that it was merely a “technical” legal response in U.S. court “used to clarify that an advertisement challenged by plaintiffs is not sufficiently objective to support the specific false advertising claim,” and not a allowing the production of inferior quality products.

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