A very present metal in our power supply. The EFC choice alert -qe this Thursday, August 21 about the presence of cadmium in chocolate and recommends “moderating its consumption”, especially in children.
According to the consumer defense association, enjoying two bjorg cookies on the same day, a bowl of Chocapic and a cup of hot chocolate poulain brings a 10 -year -old boy “almost half of the daily dose of cadmium” of which a health risk is possible.
The reference toxicological value (VTR) of this metal that accumulates in the body has been established in “0.35 micrograms of cadmium per kilogram of body weight per day” by the National Agency for Health Safety of Food, the Environment and Work (ANSE).
If the cocoa products mentioned in the UFC-CIT survey, choose the maximum regulatory cadmium content according to the analysis carried out by an independent laboratory for the association in 2022, explains to the AFP that consumers can still “exceed the daily dose tolerable when consuming several products that contain cadmium on the same day.”
“There are several sources of chocolate during the day that can be accumulated (…) and, above all, it is not just the chocolate containing cadmium, there are many other foods that contain it,” said Marie-Amandine Stévenin, president of the UFC-Quing choice, in BFMTV Association this Thursday.
An alert about doctors in June
In early June, the Regional Liberal Health Unions (URP) alerted about the mass contamination of the French, mainly children and women, with cadmium through phosphate fertilizers used in agriculture.
Cadmium is a heavy metal “that is naturally found in the floors” and whose presence can be increased by “certain human activities, such as agricultural (fertilizer) and industrial (metallurgia) activities,” ANSS explains in its place.
Certain particular foods have a high cadmium content, which concentrate. Anses appointments crustaceans and molluscs, cookies of spoils, sweet and salty, as well as cereal and chocolate bars. Other foods have lower content, but are strongly consumed in France, such as bread, pasta and potatoes, which contributes to the exposure of the population to Cadmio.
A carcinogenic metal
However, excessive exposure to cadmium is problematic because it is a carcinogenic metal, classified as such by the CIR (the International Cancer Research Center, which depends on the World Health Organization. It is also “mutagen and toxic for reproduction”, according to ANSS.
“Cadmium leads to renal damage and renal fragility of humans during prolonged exposure, especially orally through food and drinking water,” explains the agency.
The Léon Bernard Cancer Cancer Center also lists, in case of prolonged exposure, “effects on the respiratory system” and “reproductive disorders”. “The main effects in the liver, blood and immune system are also suspected,” adds the Lyonnais center.
An expected decree
Health authorities recommend, limit their exposure and, therefore, these risks, to vary their diet. They also recommend limiting the use of fertilizers containing cadmium.
In 2021, the National Agency for Health, Food and Environment (ANSE) recommended that a 20 mg threshold of cadmium per kilogram of phosphate fertilizers were not exceeded.
Although the maximum content of fertilizer cadmium materials is 60 mg/kg, the Ministry of Agriculture had put a decree that plans to reduce it in October 2023. In a message transmitted to the press in June, the Ministry of Agriculture had recognized that cadmium pollutions are “an important issue”, without giving elements about the destination of the decree destined to limit it.
Source: BFM TV
