Products · Chocolate · Spinnaker Chocolate
Spinnaker Chocolate 70% Tanzania Dark Chocolate Bar, 57 g
Reader ratings
Organic cacao and organic cane sugar, nothing else. Spinnaker posts lab reports: three Tanzania lots had cadmium of 0.06 to 0.09 mg/kg and no detectable lead, 41 to 61 percent of California’s cadmium limit per ounce. Maker-paid.
Best for Readers who want a very short list and lot-level metals results they can read, and who will pay about $6 an ounce.
- Our rating
- Fair (3.4 of 5)
- Price range
- Premium
- Verified marks
- Vegan, dairy free, nut free, gluten free and soy free, per the maker. The facility is not certified organic or Fair Trade; Spinnaker says it buys direct and pays premiums.
- Size
- 57 g (about 2 oz) bar
- Made in
- Made bean to bar in Seattle from cacao by Kokoa Kamili Fermentary in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, per the maker.
approx. $12 for a 57 g (2 oz) bar
See it on Spinnaker Chocolate’s site → (opens in a new tab)We are not affiliated with Spinnaker Chocolate. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.
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How we evaluated it
How it scores Our rating, metric by metric
- Ingredients 25% of the rating 4 of 5
Two organic ingredients and no lecithin or vanilla; 70% leaves up to 30 percent sugar and we did not read the sugar per serving.
- Lead & cadmium 35% of the rating 3 of 5
Three lots of this origin (2024 to 2026) at IEH Analytical in Seattle found low cadmium and lead under 0.01 mg/kg, but the maker ordered and posted all of them.
- Sourcing 15% of the rating 4 of 5
Organic cacao from a named fermentary in Tanzania, bought direct with premiums, per the maker; not Fair Trade certified.
- Trust 10% of the rating 4 of 5
Posts lab reports with lot numbers; no Prop 65 notice or FDA recall found, and it does not make health claims for the bar.
- Value 15% of the rating 2 of 5
About $6 an ounce, the dearest bar with a published result.
The rating, 3.4 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank chocolate and our standard.
What’s in it Every ingredient, in label order
- Organic cacao
- Organic cane sugar
Who tested it What each test found, and who paid for it
- Maker’s own test IEH Analytical Laboratories, Seattle (ordered by Spinnaker; EPA 6020B method) March 2026
Tanzania 70% bars, cadmium and lead in mg/kg: 0.06 and under 0.01 (report of 18 January 2024); 0.09 and under 0.01 (21 June 2024); 0.07 and under 0.01 (lot #711.3, 2 March 2026). At 28 g a serving that is 1.7 to 2.5 µg of cadmium (limit 4.1) and under 0.28 µg of lead (limit 0.5). Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Who paid, and why it matters
- Independent The tester took no money from the maker for it: a consumer group, a journalist, a university or a regulator.
- Paid certification An outside lab or certifier tested or listed it, and the maker paid for that.
- Maker’s own test A lab report or certificate of analysis the maker commissioned and published.
A certification is a floor, not a verdict: it checks what its program checks and nothing else. We weigh tests by someone with no stake in the result most.
What people ask Worries raised online and elsewhere, and what we found
- Does it contain lead and cadmium?
- A little cadmium, yes: 0.06 to 0.09 mg/kg in the three lots, the lowest of the origins Spinnaker has published (others run 0.08 to 1.17 mg/kg). Lead was under the lab’s 0.01 mg/kg detection limit every time. These are the maker’s own results, one sample per lot.
- Are all Spinnaker bars this low?
- No. Its published reports (opens in a new tab) show Colombia at 0.22 and 0.23, Belize at 0.29 to 0.37 and Ecuador at 1.17 mg/kg of cadmium, which is over California’s limit in one ounce. We list the lowest origins only.
- Is there a Prop 65 notice or recall?
- None found. We searched the California Attorney General’s list (opens in a new tab) for “Spinnaker” and the FDA’s enforcement database on 2026-11-05.
- Is it organic?
- The ingredient list says organic cacao and organic cane sugar, but Spinnaker says its facility is not certified organic (opens in a new tab), so the claim rests on its suppliers’ certificates.
- How much sugar is in it?
- The nutrition label is behind a drop-down we could not read. A 70% bar is about 30 percent sugar and cocoa solids by recipe.
Why we chose it What put it on our list
- It posts lead and cadmium reports for every batch it tests, with the lab named, the method given and lot numbers, back to January 2024.
- Tanzania is its lowest origin: 41 to 61 percent of California’s cadmium limit per ounce in all three lots, and lead not detected.
- The list is two organic ingredients with no vanilla or soy lecithin, which the maker says it leaves out to keep each origin’s flavor.
Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy
- Every report was ordered by Spinnaker, so the result counts for less than an independent one.
- It is about $6 an ounce and the 57 g bar is two ounces, so one bar is two servings against the limits.
- Other origins from the same maker are higher, so buy Tanzania, not just any Spinnaker bar.
- The lead limit of detection (0.01 mg/kg) is 0.28 µg an ounce, so we know only that lead was under 56 percent of the limit.
- Sold by the maker, with a store locator for Seattle shops; we did not find an online store besides its own.
What to know Details worth knowing first
Spinnaker makes bean-to-bar chocolate in Seattle and posts lab reports for it. Its heavy metal page links certificates from IEH Analytical, one for each batch it sent in, with the method and lot number. Almost no chocolate maker shows that much.
The reports are mixed, which is why we list only one origin. Cadmium in its 70% bars runs from 0.06 mg/kg to 1.17 mg/kg depending on where the cacao grows. Tanzania is the lowest, at 0.06 to 0.09 across three lots, and lead was not detected. At an ounce a day that is under 2.5 micrograms of cadmium against California’s 4.1.
The caveat is that Spinnaker ordered and paid for every report. The bar is also two ounces and about $6 an ounce.
What we checked Each claim, and how sure we are of it
| What we checked | What we found |
|---|---|
| Lead and cadmium measured and published Maker’s claim | IEH Analytical, three Tanzania lots 2024 to 2026: cadmium 0.06 to 0.09 mg/kg, lead under 0.01 mg/kg. |
| A short list: cacao, a named sweetener, perhaps cocoa butter or vanilla Verified | Organic cacao, organic cane sugar. |
| 70 percent cacao or more, sugar per serving stated Not verified | 70%; sugar per serving not read. |
| Traceable cacao, organic, how farmers are paid Maker’s claim | Kokoa Kamili Fermentary, Tanzania; organic cacao; direct purchase with premiums per the maker; not Fair Trade certified. |
| No Prop 65 notice or recall Verified | None found 2026-11-05. |
What the labels mean
- Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
- Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
- Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.
Sources Where our facts come from
- Spinnaker: 70% Tanzania. Maker’s page. $12, 57 g, ingredients, Kokoa Kamili. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Spinnaker: heavy metal testing. Maker’s page. Links the IEH Analytical reports (IAL-55953, IAL-60855, IAL-84953) read for this page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- IEH Analytical report IAL-55953 (January 2024). Test report. Tanzania cadmium 0.06, lead under 0.01 mg/kg. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- IEH Analytical report IAL-60855 (June 2024). Test report. Tanzania cadmium 0.09, lead under 0.01. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- IEH Analytical report IAL-84953 (March 2026). Test report. Lot #711.3 Tanzania cadmium 0.07, lead under 0.01. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- IEH Analytical report IAL-84787 (February 2026). Test report. Ecuador 1.17, Belize 0.31, Haiti 0.29, Uganda 0.19 mg/kg cadmium: why we list Tanzania only. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Spinnaker: FAQ. Maker’s page. Not certified organic or fair trade; buys direct. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search. Certifier or regulator listing. No notice for Spinnaker, searched 2026-11-05. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Alternatives Other options to compare
- Spinnaker 70% Guatemala The same maker, from Kampura in Guatemala, with one posted lot at 0.08 mg/kg cadmium.
- Mast Organic Dark Chocolate 80% Independent Consumer Reports result, about $3.20 an ounce.