The team of scientists combined several imaging techniques to accurately determine the concentrations of heavy metals in cocoa beans. They examined samples of cocoa contaminated with an average of 4.2 mg/kg of cadmium from a growing region in Colombia. This far exceeds the European limit of 0.1-0.8 mg cadmium/kg for cocoa products.
Scientists have found that cadmium accumulates mainly in the outer shell of the bean. They also succeeded in proving that roasting changes the distribution of elements in the grains. Further research could help understand how to improve processing steps to minimize cadmium exposure.
Source: Ferra
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