Where can I source Cacao Husk for tea? Ideally organic from a peru farm. It's for commercial purposes.

Where can I source Cacao Husk for tea? Ideally organic from a peru farm. It’s for commercial purposes.


Archived Comments

Comment by: Sebastian

I’d advise against that for food safety reasons. A couple of quick things to consider:

  • If beans are being dried on the side of the road, this is a part of the world that uses leaded gasoline, and lead build up on the roads will transfer to the shells.
  • Bean shells often get moldy, and often you can’t see it visibly. The mold in and of itself isn’t a safety issue (you eat mold all the time wether you know it or not), but the specific types of mold that are present on cocoa shells often generate ochratoxins and aflatoxins – which can lead to serious health risks. One type of aflatoxin (atox B1) is one of the most potent hepatoxins in the world).

Now, my experience is that i’ve found, generally speaking, that people don’t want to hear that – and have created a very long list of reasons that should help me understand why their particular instance is different – but it’s not. People are going to do what they’re going to do – but they should at least be informed 😎


Comment by: DiscoverChoc

@MatthewMorey – I answered this as a reply to your question in this thread: