Exports of Peruvian cacao —in all its forms— amounted to US$245.556 million between January and October this year, an 11% rise compared to the same period in 2018, privately-run
Association of Peruvian Exporters (ADEX) reported on Tuesday.
In this regard, ADEX Agro-exports Department Manager Susana Yturry explained that the most popular varieties were cacao beans, which accounted for 54.3% of the total, cacao butter (28%), chocolate (8.9%), and cacao powder (5.3%), among others.
Yturry stressed the importance of complying with the
Commission Regulation (EU) No 488/2014 —applied since January 2019— which established the maximum levels of cadmium for chocolate and cacao derivatives in order to maintain the positive trend.
Cacao powder
The EU sent a letter to clarify that the maximum levels of cadmium do not apply to cacao powder for use as raw material.
However, it establishes 0.60 ppm as the maximum level of cadmium for chocolate powder or sweetened cacao powder sold to the final consumer.
(END) RGP/JJN/RMB/MVB
Published: 12/24/2019