“Excellence” seems to be just a marketing term, and Lindt would have done better not to raise it too high. The Zurich chocolate company Lindt & Sprüngli is in the midst of a storm in the United States because of this word, reports “NZZ am Sonntag”. A consumer protection magazine has indeed measured too many heavy metals in “Excellence” dark chocolate bars. The sale of such a product is legal, but the metal content must be indicated in a warning, specifies “Le Temps”, which is not the case here. A class action lawsuit has been filed against the company.
However, Lindt wanted to brush aside this complaint, an attempt rejected in September. And the method ignited the powder. Its lawyers argued that the term “Excellence” was “exaggerated advertising on which no reasonable consumer can base their expectations”. “Le Temps” specifies that the words “professionally made from the best ingredients” were described by Lindt’s lawyers themselves as “puffery”, translatable as “scoff”. Enough to enrage American consumers, whose indignation is unleashed on social networks.
For Lindt & Sprüngli, this is all just a big misunderstanding: “In our legal opinion, we stated that words like ‘excellent’ do not automatically suggest, under US law, that a product is free of metals heavy,” writes the company. But the damage is done.
Naturally loaded South American cocoa
One of the reasons Excellence chocolate contains heavy metals is completely natural: it contains cocoa from South America, which often grows on volcanic soils. However, these contain cadmium, which is found in beans. And these have a particular taste which cannot be replaced by cocoa from other sources without altering the final product. However, the legal sales values do not endanger health, assures the Chocosuisse association.
