Safer Sweets for your Sweetie!!
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we wanted to share our favorite safe alternative chocolate with you! Chocolate is produced from cacao beans which are refined through a series of steps where special ingredients are added such as milk, cocoa butter and sugar. Most chocolate (two-thirds) comes from the same basic place – the Ivory Coast of West Africa (where forced child labor still exists!)
Why do I need to make sure my chocolate is organic? The only crop that is sprayed with more pesticides than cacao is cotton! The pesticides used in the crop production are:
- Lindane (banned in the U.S.)
- Methyl bromide (prostate cancer)
- Pyrethins (carcinogenic)
- Hydrogen cyanide (acute toxicity)
- Glyphosate (carcinogenic)
Non-organic chocolate also contains GMOs in lecithin and other corn-based ingredients. GMO corn has shown to be linked to cancer (increase risk of tumor growth, organ damage, lower life expectancy), and some countries like France and Russia have already placed bans!
Non-organic chocolate also means non-organic milk! Non-organic milk may contain the growth hormone rBGH/rBST which is an endocrine disruptor. The cows are also injected with Zeranol which is also estrogenic and has shown links to early puberty and breast cancer.
Our best advice is to stick to organic (always a good rule of thumb)! Equal Exchange Chocolate is Fair trade (meaning you can rest assured children have not been forced to raise your beans) certified organic, and the company is run as a cooperative! Today the UMass POB Chapter will be giving out free samples in the Campus Center and Trinity College POB Chapter will be at the Cave (both during the lunch hours!). Many thanks to http://www.facebook.com/equalexchange for their support!!
