Terrasoul's Commitment to Quality and Testing
Terrasoul Superfoods, a company focused on producing superfood ingredients, has explicitly stated its policy on heavy metal testing for its cacao products. This is in direct response to consumer concerns and the well-documented issue of naturally occurring heavy metals in cacao beans. The company's transparency is a cornerstone of its quality control measures, offering customers a way to verify the purity of what they consume.
How Terrasoul Conducts Testing
On its product pages and quality statements, Terrasoul details its process for ensuring safety.
- Methodology: They test samples from all cacao lots using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) at an accredited laboratory. This is a highly accurate method for detecting heavy metals.
- Frequency: Testing is done on every batch of cacao lots that are processed.
- Contaminants: The tests specifically check for naturally occurring heavy metals, including lead and cadmium.
- Third-Party Verification: In addition to internal checks, Terrasoul utilizes third-party lab testing to ensure compliance with its strict quality standards.
Requesting Batch-Specific Results
For consumers who wish to see the specific test results for their product, Terrasoul offers a way to do so. By emailing their customer service team with the lot number—found on the product packaging—customers can receive the 3rd-party lab results for their specific purchase. This level of transparency goes beyond what many companies offer, empowering consumers to make informed choices.
Understanding Heavy Metals in Cacao and Your Nutrition Diet
Heavy metals like cadmium and lead are not added to cacao but are absorbed from the environment where the cacao trees grow. This happens because the soil and surrounding air can be contaminated by natural geological processes and human activity. The concentration of these metals can vary significantly based on the growing region and soil composition. Cadmium is primarily taken up from the soil by the plant's roots and accumulates in the bean, while lead typically settles on the outside of the bean during drying and fermentation.
Why Dark Cacao Is Affected More
Dark cacao products, like cacao powder and high-percentage dark chocolate, contain higher concentrations of heavy metals than milk chocolate because they use more of the cacao solid. Removing the fatty cacao butter to create powder can also further concentrate heavy metals like cadmium. This makes transparency around testing especially crucial for dark cacao products.
Navigating Cacao Safety: What You Can Do
To ensure your cacao consumption aligns with your nutrition diet goals, consider these practices:
- Requesting Lab Results: Use Terrasoul's policy to your advantage by requesting the specific test results for your lot number.
- Diversifying Your Diet: Rotate your consumption of cacao and other foods known to contain naturally occurring heavy metals, such as root vegetables and rice, to avoid high, continuous exposure from a single source.
- Choosing Based on Cocoa Content: If concerned, opt for chocolate with a lower cacao percentage or choose milk chocolate, which generally contains lower levels of heavy metals.
Heavy Metal Levels in Cacao Comparison
To put Terrasoul's disclosed levels in context, here is a comparison with California's Proposition 65 Maximum Allowable Dose Levels (MADLs) and European Union (EU) limits for heavy metals in cacao.
| Metric | Terrasoul (May 2023 Example) | CA Prop 65 Limit (for consumption) | EU Limit (>50% Cacao) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (mcg/day) | 0.07 ppm (approx 0.07 mcg/g) | 0.5 mcg/day | Not specified (low bioavailability) |
| Cadmium (mcg/day) | 0.675 ppm (approx 0.675 mcg/g) | 4.1 mcg/day | 0.8 mcg/g (0.80 mg/kg) |
It is important to note that conversion and serving sizes must be considered when interpreting these numbers. For example, a single tablespoon of powder may contain less than a recommended daily limit even if the concentration seems high. Additionally, regulations vary, and what's acceptable under one standard may be different under another.
Conclusion
In response to the question, Is Terrasoul cacao tested for heavy metals? the answer is clearly yes. Terrasoul has a transparent, batch-specific testing protocol for heavy metals like lead and cadmium. However, because heavy metals are inherent to cacao and its environmental sourcing, consumer awareness remains key. The ultimate responsibility lies with the consumer to stay informed, request information from companies, and make balanced dietary choices. This vigilance ensures that products like cacao, valued for their nutritional benefits, are enjoyed responsibly within a health-conscious nutrition diet. For additional context on food safety initiatives, the FDA's 'Closer to Zero' plan provides further information on reducing exposure to toxic elements in food.
