Thanksgiving recipes: Read this warning first

[Consumer Reports]   Dear Friend, If your Thanksgiving Day starts with a mug of hot chocolate, or ends with a slice of chocolate cream pie, make sure you know this: Hershey’s Cocoa Powder – a popular ingredient for these and other holiday favorites – had lead levels that exceeded Consumer Reports’ limits in our recent tests. And it’s not just the company’s cocoa powder. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars had the highest levels of lead of all the milk chocolate bars we tested. And Hershey’s Special Dark Mildly Sweet chocolate bar tested 265 percent above our recommended lead limit. It’s time Hershey gets the lead out! In young children, lead exposure can lead to brain damage and developmental problems; in adults, it’s linked to immune system suppression, reproductive issues, and kidney damage. [Join 20,000 other consumers in demanding Hershey act now to reduce heavy metals in its products!](  [Sign the Petition »](  Consumer Reports has conducted two rounds of heavy metals testing on chocolate in our ongoing effort to push manufacturers to do more to get these toxic contaminants out of their products. And in both of our tests, Hershey stood out for having problematic lead levels in its chocolates. After our first round of tests last year, Hershey stated it would like to get heavy metals out of its products. But to date, it hasn’t publicly committed to a plan or timeline, and refused to respond to our request last month to outline its plans. Hershey sells the most chocolate in the U.S., so what it does – or doesn’t do – to make chocolate safer could change the marketplace for everyone. [Help us apply consumer pressure by signing our petition to Hershey now!](  [Sign the Petition »](  We recently used our consumer power to work with the maker of Peeps candy to remove the known carcinogen Red Dye 3 from its products. We can move Hershey, too, if we have a wave of consumer pressure. Please share this with friends and family so they can join you in speaking out! Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Meg BohneConsumer Reports [Unsubscribe from Consumer Reports action alerts.]( © 2022 Consumer Reports, 101 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY, 10703 [Contact Consumer Reports](