{"id":25979,"date":"2022-03-30T08:38:32","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T08:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/?p=25979"},"modified":"2022-03-30T08:39:07","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T08:39:07","slug":"icco-plans-starts-new-cadmium-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/icco-plans-starts-new-cadmium-research\/","title":{"rendered":"ICCO PLANS NEW CADMIUM RESEARCH"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has embarked on a project to find ways of reducing Cadmium absorption by Cocoa plants in Latin America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organisation will focus on Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad-and Tobago, where there is a high level of naturally occurring Cadmium in the soil. The project has been funded through a number of sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The project will be implemented in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago for a total cost of US$551,000, with a grant of US$382,000 from the WTO\u2019s Standard and Trade Development Facility (STDF) and \u20ac60,000 in co-financing from the European Union. Participating countries will provide the remainder of the financing requirements as their counterpart contribution.<\/p><cite>ICCO Statement<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2017, the EU sent a shockwave through the industry when they announced a much-reduced level of acceptable Cadmium for chocolate, which effectively made some products with origins from parts of Latin America illegal when it came into effect in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why is this a big deal for the EU? Although the European Union is less than 10% of the world by population, we consume half of the world\u2019s chocolate! So determining the safety level was quite important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cadmium is a compound with a very long half-life in the body, meaning it accumulates and stays in the body for between 10-30 years. The impact on children was of particular concern since children\u2019s kidneys are more susceptible to contaminants than adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EU drastically lowered the acceptable levels of Cadmium. Because it knew this would cause significant issues to some areas of the world that grew their cocoa in Cadmium-rich soil, they set up funding for research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See the EU\u2019s infographic, which explains the regulation at a high level:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/food\/system\/files\/2019-03\/cs_contaminants_catalogue_cadmium_chocolate_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/food\/system\/files\/2019-03\/cs_contaminants_catalogue_cadmium_chocolate_en.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/iaea-helps-solve-cadmium-problem-in-panama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a>&nbsp;in which they worked out how to track cadmium uptake from the soil in Panama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICCO wants to continue their own research, hopefully producing practical steps for farmers, ultimately more helpful than PowerPoint presentations. The organisation listed their objectives as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>The creation of a platform or network to share information and establish continuous dialogue among research institutes to build consensus on standardised testing protocols and best practices for cadmium mitigation and remediation.<\/li><li>Capacity building and enhanced expertise of cocoa producers\/stakeholders in the application of standardised protocols.<\/li><li>Improved knowledge and better understanding of possible sources of cadmium presence in cocoa growing areas through analysis and mapping of hotspots and recommended best practices for mitigation and remediation; and<\/li><li>Development of a training curriculum and training of master trainers who will lead the transfer of knowledge on cadmium mitigation and remediation to cocoa farmers and traders in the region.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not the ICCO\u2019s first rodeo, as they say, in researching ways to mitigate Cadmium. In November 2017, Gideon Ramtahal, PhD and Postdoctoral Researcher, gave a presentation in Lima, Peru, at the 2017 International Symposium on Cocoa Research (ISCR)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icco.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Keynote-Thematic-6.-Gideon-Ramtahal-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mitigation of Cadmium Bioaccumulation in Cacao (icco.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study will last for 2 years, but I worry slightly that the ICCO hasn&#8217;t explained what a successful outcome will look like. Will there be practical steps that will help Cocoa farmers, or just more learnings from which solutions must yet be then developed?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has embarked on a project to find ways of reducing Cadmium absorption by Cocoa plants in Latin America. The organisation will focus on Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad-and Tobago, where there is a high level of naturally occurring Cadmium in the soil. The project has been funded through a number [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1701],"tags":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25979"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26013,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25979\/revisions\/26013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}