The US Customs and Border Protection Agency is sitting on something that could really help.

The Department of Labor has cocoa listed as a child labor and forced child labor commodity. The industrial chocolate industry knows this as they clearly admit it is part of their supply chain and promised to clean this up in 2001 when it signed the Harkin Engel Protocol. Unfortunately, it hasn’t. Despite a slew of paltry initiatives, no positive change as been recorded. What has been documented by the Department of Labor is that the number of exploited children in the cocoa sector of Ghana and The Ivory Coast has risen.

But get this, the US Customs and Border Patrol Agency is supposed to issue an embargo and halt the import of these beans. It’s law. But despite and endless amount of outreach including a detailed petition, they haven’t done their job.

Below are the screen shots to a response that International Rights Advocates receive over 2 years after they filed a detailed petition.

After working on this issue for 16 years now, I really believe that halting these beans would help inspire the complicit industrial chocolate companies to fulfill the promises they not only gave to these children but the rest of the world.

Ayn Riggs

Director Slave Free Chocolate

Bibamba Chocolate Announces Results of Heavy Metal Testing February 22 nd , 2023

Careful Agricultural and Fair Labor Practices Make Safer Dark Chocolate

Denver – February 22 nd , 2023 –Denver artisan chocolate company Bibamba Chocolate

announced today the results of heavy metal testing of their signature dark chocolate

bark.

The presence of high levels of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium found in dark

chocolate has become an issue of growing concern to dark chocolate consumers. First

reported by Consumer Reports in December 2022, many major news outlets have

reported that several large dark chocolate brands tested high in heavy metals, leaving

dark chocolate lovers wary about the safety of their beloved snack.

Bibamba Chocolate owners Patrick and Mara Tcheunou, who have prioritized

sustainable farming and fair labor practices at their family farm in Cameroon since the

inception of their company, responded quickly to this growing concern about heavy

metals in dark chocolate. They had their signature dark chocolate bark “Noir 60%

Cacao” independently tested by a certified food testing laboratory in early February.

The owners were happy, but not surprised, to learn that Bibamba’s chocolate tested

below the acceptable levels of lead and cadmium, according to California's

maximum allowable dose (MADL). The MADL is currently the most protective

standard in the industry.

“I credit this to our good farming and post-harvesting practices by our farm employees,

who are well compensated, thus are incentivized to follow best practices and

procedures,” Patrick said, referring to the harvesting, fermentation and drying of cacao

beans involved in the manufacture of Bibamba’s chocolate. “Lead is likely deposited on

cocoa beans through dust, mostly during drying.”

Bibamba Chocolate is recognized as Slave-Free Chocolate, meaning they do not use

child labor (which is common in the chocolate industry) and pay their farmers fair wages

and healthcare. This investment is not only the right thing to do – it has also resulted in

better cacao making Bibamba dark chocolate both delicious and safe to eat.