Trace amounts of lead and cadmium were allegedly found in several chocolate bars.

This week, prominent chocolate manufacturer and retailer Hershey was sued by New York resident Christopher Lazazzaro. Lazazzaro’s complaint revolves around potentially harmful amounts of metals, including lead and cadmium, that have allegedly been discovered in Hershey’s dark chocolate bars, with Lazazzaro noting that he would not have purchased the products had he known their contents.

The discovery Lazazzaro is citing comes from magazine Consumer Reports, which ran a test on 23 chocolate bars from a variety of manufacturers, Hershey included, and uncovered potentially unsafe levels of the metals.

“For 23 of the bars, eating just an ounce (28g) a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and CR’s experts say may be harmful for at least one of those heavy metals,” CR’s report reads.

“Any food can contain heavy metals if they are present in the soil in high concentration,” nutritionist Sheeba Majmudar explained to the BBC.

“Currently there are no food laws stating that all food batches need to be tested – until they make you sick. While no level of toxins is safe, it is always the ‘buyer beware’ slogan that comes to mind,” she added.

Lazazzaro is seeking $5 million in damages from Hershey. Hershey has not publicly commented on the lawsuit or CR’s report at the time of writing.