Supports shipping to:
- Netherlands (no shipping required)
- UK (no shipping required)
- Germany
- Austria
- Norway (no shipping required)
- Finland (no shipping required)
- Belgium
- Romania (no shipping required)
Non EU:
- US (hawaii too)
- Australia,
- Puerto rico
Here’s their promise to never use forced labour for their cocoa.
There’s also the Tony’s open chain: a pledge by many companies (not just eu, also us) to use only ethically sourced cocoa. The companies are: here
I love Tony’s, but they’re also reportedly higher in lead content than other brands.
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/
Valrhona is a solid non-American brand pick from the list of safer chocolate and they’re B-Corp certified. I believe their parents company is French.
When it comes to chocolate you’re often forced to pick your poison, so to speak.
This is for dark chocolate only, and the article has them listed as one of the lowest lead brands. Crazy that they’re all so high though, WTF!
A fair point! Didn’t even occur to me since I only bother with the dark stuff lol
They’re the lowest listed of the “high lead content” category. So kind of the best of the worst for it, I suppose.
TIL chocolate can have lead…jfc
Everything has lead.
I love Tony’s, but they’re also reportedly higher in lead content than other brands.
Yes, that is because cocoa plants absorb heavy metals from the soil. Tony probably has a higher lead content because they simply use more cocoa. That’s something you can also see if you compare dark chocolate with milk chocolate - dark chocolate will have more lead because more cocoa is used.
The amount of lead is also not a biggie - you’d have to eat such an insane amount of chocolate that you’d die of the sugar intake WAY earlier than from the lead exposure.
1: It’s thought to be contamination from the manufacturing and shipping process, as far as I know.
2: There is no safe level of lead intake, and it’s not about lethal dosage. The numbers used are California’s extra-paranoid metrics however. That doesn’t make them wrong, just be aware that you’re being poisoned in so many other ways as well you might as well have some chocolate now and again, it probably won’t be the thing that gives you Alzheimer’s. But it might! You’ll never know! Or remember…
3: Tony’s is still better because all the others are just as bad but with slavery.
I doubt anyone is getting lead poisoning exclusively from eating chocolate, but it’s accumulative in the human body and worth being aware of.
I mean, their 70% cocoa clocks in at 134% the mentiomed safe limit while the 80% cocoa from mast is at 14% (both reportedly for 1 oz of chocolate) according to the previously linked data. If the main determinant was the amount of cocoa, than I would have expected 80% to be higher.
Of course a company could be lying about the cocoa %, or using some type of filler, etc. But it seems plausible that there might be other causes. For example, perhaps some cocoa plantation locations have more lead in their soil, etc.
Tony’s did actually respond to CR, claiming these are not food safety standards. They did not appear to mention why their chocolate had any different levels of lead than other companies, just that leaf is absorbed from the soil.
Lead and cadmium come from cocoa plants. Tony’s might have more because it has a higher cocoa percentage
It’s most likely from the surrounding environment, and pollution from cars. Countries with shitty regulations are cheap to hire from and their crops are cheaper. The downside? You get lead in your food.
What’s b corp certified?
In the UK, B labs certifies companies they meet their requirements for social responsibility, environmental stuff etc. I don’t know the details but the companies I’ve seen that have B corp status seem to care about doing nice stuff, so I consider it a plus.
I was under the impression that Tony’s is working towards a chocolate industry without child labor and forced labor. But the issue is quite complex and they’re not there yet.
Not saying they’re bad. It seems that they’re doing what they can and according to their website they “lead by example”. But I’m not sure if they make any promises about a 100% child labor / forced labor free supply chain at this moment.
The above could be outdated, maybe they’ve achieved their objectives for their own supply chain already. But I can’t find it on their website atm.
Previously they claimed no slave labor for many years.
They audited their supply chain every year, but eventually found that no matter the claims of their suppliers and auditors, they were finding instances of child labor.
So they’ve updated their stance and are actively working to change the industry
Here’s an article from 2022 covering the issue
Appreciate the insight, thanks!
I think it used to say “as little slavery as possible” or something like that but I don’t see that written out anymore, just implied.
From the inside of one I just opened:
Also
lead by example
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/
mfw
It used to say “slave free” (yes, without a hyphen because apparently they know better than 4 translators) but now it says they try to be as slave free as possible.
It actually doesn’t even say that anymore, it’s even more vague now. Thats what I was trying to show with the picture
May contain nuts, child slavery, lactose
That consumer reports link. YIKES!
Did you also learn this information from John Oliver like me?
No I think they were pretty open about it themselves. Don’t watch John Oliver tbh 😅.
He does a great job but it’s all USA focused content
Fucking woke BS, ChIlD sLaVeRy. Let the childern work, we need Chocolate!
/s
the children YEARN for the nestle mines, we NEED that chocolate
mines
Everyone knows chocolate is hunted! /s
It basically is. Back in 2005, when inspecting cocoa plantations used for example by Nestlé, they found six-year-olds bought as slaves climbing the trees with baskets and harvesting cocoa using machete-like big knives that regularly caused the children to lose their hands or arms, in which case the child was thrown away and a new one was bought to replace it. Children were observed with scars in their shoulders half a centimetre (about ¼ inch) deep from carrying heavy baskets attached to their shoulders by ropes.
To my knowledge, this has not changed in the last 20 years, except that nowadays there are quite many slavery-free chocolates available, so the number of those plantations has probably decreased?
Chocolate comes from slaves, and the slaves are essentially hunted.
I think chocolate is just the distilled blood and tears of third world children. Wait, that’s nestle only? Damn, it must grow on trees then.
Everyone should watch John Oliver’s Chocolate episode (as much as is preferred not to link YouTube). Tony’s is discussed, and it seems more ethical than most. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwHMDjc7qJ8
Edit: updated comment to better reflect coverage.
That short segment about Tony seems relatively positve.
I hadn’t watched the segment since it aired and… you’re right. Thanks!
I go out of ny way to buy this chocolate (outside EU) as its simply divine compared to American chocolate.
Also it’s pretty good. I didn’t know I liked milk chocolate, because Hershey’s is disgusting. Tony’s is objectively a better tasting product.
Well there’s your problem, in the Netherlands (and other places) Hershey milk ‘chocolate’ isn’t legally chocolate. It needs at least 35% cacao to be called chocolate. It would be called ‘Cacao fantasy’ here instead. So no wonder you think it’s shit chocolate, cause it isn’t chocolate to begin with
For sure, that’s why it tastes like vomit.
Hershey’s chocolate has butyric acid, which is also found in vomit. The acid is allegedly a byproduct, but it helps stabilize the chocolate and prevent it from melting. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hersheys-chocolate-tastes-like-vomit_l_60479e5fc5b6af8f98bec0cd
That’s like saying “I didn’t know I liked olives because faeces from people who have eaten olives is disgusting”. Hershey’s is widely hated for a reason, it shouldn’t be legal to sell.
I didn’t know I liked milk chocolate, because Hershey’s is disgusting.
Hershey’s is someone LARPing chocolate making. It’s pure disgusting. How people have been eating it for so long is beyond me.
Some of us grew up thinking that was chocolate. Have pity, rather than disdain.
The lies your government have fed you since you were a child are hard to forget. But join us, in the real chocolate world, my child, and we will embrace you with open arms.
Thank you, my brothersister
Aside from the activism stuff, Tonys just tastes how good chocolate should taste.
yup, my goto these days.
I’d love to have some Tony’s Chocolonely. Unfortunately, I have such a severe gluten intolerance that their cross contaminated factory produces Russian Roulette bars for me.
Even though most of their bars don’t actually contain gluten based ingredients, the fact they use one big production facility that sprinkles gluten all over the place for shits and giggles ensures I will never be able to safely consume their products.
I’ll stick to G’woon chocolate. They at least produce their non-glutened bars in a safe environment.
(And yes I’ve tried Tony’s bars in the past, always resulting in issues because of it.)
I discovered Tony’s Chocoloney a few months ago, and I really love it. I can get it at my local supermarket as well. Great to see them on here!
Contrary to conservative beliefs, food made of child slavery doesn’t taste more delicious.
/j…?
…honestly, I wouldn’t put it past rich bastards like Musk getting off on their food, due to it being seasoned with suffering.
I hate that my choices are Expensive, Evil, or Doesn’t Taste Good when it comes to so many products.
Which applies for you with this brand? I love the taste, but would admit it’s a fair chunk of my weekly groceries total.
Never bought it, because yes it’s too pricey. I don’t buy chocolate often to begin with, but I’m never willing to try this because it’s so much more than everything else.
Yum
For Norway: you can buy these at Normal. Much cheaper than getting them shipped.
what an abnormal store name lol
Thanks, i’ll add this to the post :D
They sell it in most supermarkets in the UK too. Even starting to see it in some vending machine too.
Adding, thank you!
Also available in Finland in some grocery stores.
Adding right now, thanks
Tony’s is great and tastes awesome, but the real question here is, are we european really eating that much non-EU sweets? Maybe the occasional Snickers or Mars, but all the stuff that I tasted and was from across the pond was either brutally sweet or had no flavor at all.
I’m not european so i can’t answer with certainty: but most (including EU corporations) chocolate producers are very unethical, exploiting forced labor and destroying rain forests.
A change is still a change, even if you think it is small :)
FYI: Check if whatever brand you like also works with Tony’s for their supply chain. For example Jumbo (NL supermarket) sources their chocolate from Tony’s and there’s quite a lot more partners.
