Overview
Tkachenko and colleagues developed two chocolate spread recipes, one with sea buckthorn oil and one with hemp oil, and made each from organic and from conventional raw materials. Alongside sensory, fat and HACCP work, they measured lead and cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry, arsenic colorimetrically and mercury by flameless atomic absorption. The organic versions had lower lead, cadmium and arsenic.
Key numbers
- Lead: sea buckthorn paste 0.25 (conventional) vs 0.09 (organic); hemp paste 0.24 vs 0.11 (Table 7, unit not printed).
- Cadmium: 0.09 vs 0.03 (sea buckthorn) and 0.09 vs 0.02 (hemp) (Table 7).
- Arsenic 0.20 vs 0.10 in both recipes; mercury ”< 0.001” in all four (Table 7).
Methods (brief)
Lead and cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry (PerkinElmer PinAAcle 900T), arsenic by a colorimetric method, mercury by flameless atomic absorption. Digestion, replicates, detection limits and quality control are not described.
Evidence Fitness
Laboratory-made products, one value each, so this is a controlled comparison of raw-material sourcing rather than a market survey. Table 7 does not state a unit (mg/kg is likely), so the values are not converted, and the text’s 2.45-fold lead difference for the hemp spread does not match the table (2.18-fold). Chocolate spread with almonds is only a proxy for chocolate-nut-candy, which is not linked.