Hershey's Cocoa Naturally Unsweetened 100% Cacao
Corrected caution pick: CR says this natural Hershey's cocoa powder exceeded its lead level of concern; the old Special Dark/Dutch-process claim was too broad.
Why it ranks
This replaces the prior Hershey's Special Dark / Dutch-process entry because the source trail did not support that exact SKU strongly enough. In CR's October 2023 chocolate-products test, the article specifically says most tested cocoa powders were natural-style and that Hershey's Cocoa Naturally Unsweetened 100% Cacao exceeded CR's lead limit. It also says Droste was the only Dutch-processed cocoa powder in that test. So the defensible warning is this exact natural Hershey's cocoa, not a generalized Special Dark verdict.
Highlights
- Widely available, easy-to-confuse cocoa-powder shelf staple
- Exact current can image verified from a live Target product page image
Caveats
- CR Oct-2023: exceeded CR's lead level of concern for a 1 Tbsp cocoa-powder serving
- Do not treat “natural” as automatically low-metal — CR still found this natural powder high for lead
- CR did not publish a full product-specific percentage in the accessible article text I verified today
- For daily cocoa use, Navitas has the stronger CR + brand-testing evidence stack
Testing method
CR triplicate ICP-MS — lead and cadmium vs CA Prop 65 MADLs, plus image-source verification