Hu class action claims dark chocolate products contain lead

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Hu class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Sonya Levy has filed a class action lawsuit against Hu Products LLC, Hu Master Holdings LLC, and Mondelez Global LLC.
• Why: The defendants allegedly failed to disclose that their dark chocolate product contains lead, which can cause significant health problems.
• Where: The dark chocolate lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.

Hu’s Organic Simple Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa chocolate bars contain unsafe levels of lead, a chemical that is extremely harmful when consumed, according to a recent class action lawsuit.

When lead builds up in the body over time, it can cause significant health problems, the dark chocolate class action lawsuit says. Young children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can adversely affect their mental and physical development.

Consumer Reports Magazine and independent testing have reportedly discovered many chocolate products contain high levels of lead, including Hu’s dark chocolate products.

Dark chocolate lawsuit says defendants charge premium for products that are purportedly made with ‘clean’ ingredients

Plaintiff Sonya Levy says she frequently purchased Hu dark chocolate products and believed that they were safe for consumption. 

The Hu class action lawsuit alleges the company’s success as a “health and wellness” snack brand is founded in part on its representations that its products are “organic,” “clean,” “better-for-you,” and made with “simple, close to nature ingredients.”

Levy claims that the defendants knew that consumers would pay a premium for healthier products with “natural” ingredients. 

Had Levy known that the chocolate bars contained lead, she would not have purchased them or would have paid less for them, according to the dark chocolate lawsuit.

“Consumers lack the meaningful ability to test or independently verify whether a product contains lead or other unsafe and unhealthy substances, especially at the point of purchase,” the dark chocolate lawsuit says.

Therefore, consumers must rely on companies to truthfully disclose the ingredients.

Hu class action says defendants failed to disclose that chocolate contains lead

Levy alleges Hu Products LLC, Hu Master Holdings LLC, and Mondelez Global LLC knew that their chocolate products contained lead but failed to disclose this fact to consumers.

She notes that the defendants test the products for quality control purposes and that they receive certifications from suppliers that would indicate the presence of lead in the products. The dark chocolate lawsuit alleges the defendants would have had “exclusive knowledge of the lead levels” that consumers could not have known about without conducting independent testing.

She filed the Hu class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and other consumers who purchased the Hu dark chocolate products in the United States.

This dark chocolate lawsuit is just one of several cases filed in the wake of the Consumer Reports findings that many dark chocolate products contain toxic heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.

Have you purchased Hu chocolate products? Tell us what you think of the dark chocolate lawsuit in the comments!

Levy is represented by Max S. Roberts, L. Timothy Fisher, and Sean L. Litteral of Bursor & Fisher PA, Kevin Laukaitis of Laukaitis Law Firm LLC, and David S. Almeida of Almeida Law Group LLC.

The Hu dark chocolate lawsuit is Sonya F. Levy v. Hu Products LLC, et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-01381, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Kona class action over false labeling settled for $6.15M
• Barilla class action alleges company ‘tricks’ customers into thinking pastas made in Italy
• Snyder’s class action alleges company falsely advertises products as made with whole grain, real honey
• POM class action alleges Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice falsely advertised as ‘all natural’