Blueprint Cocoa Powder: Flavanols, Cadmium and Lead From Its Lab Report (2026)

A 12 oz (340 g) bag holds 60 scoops. The nutrition label uses a 5.65 g scoop (the how-to section says 5.76 g) with 15 calories, 1 g of fiber, no sugar and 2.4 mg of iron. The only ingredient is natural, non-alkalized cocoa powder, which Blueprint describes as undutched and unsweetened. Blueprint says it contains naturally occurring caffeine but does not give an amount.

Blueprint's product page does not print a flavanol number, but its posted certificate of analysis does. For a lot made in September 2025 and reported on September 24, 2025, the lab measured 458 mg of cocoa flavanols per 6 g, against Blueprint's own specification of at least 400 mg. For scale, the COSMOS trial gave older adults 500 mg of cocoa flavanols a day as a capsule. Its main result, total cardiovascular events, was not statistically significant (hazard ratio 0.90), while cardiovascular death, a secondary outcome, was lower (hazard ratio 0.73).

The same report measured cadmium at 0.814 ppm, which is 0.814 mcg per gram. That works out to about 4.9 mcg in 6 g, or 4.6 mcg in the 5.65 g label scoop. California's Proposition 65 sets 4.1 mcg a day as the level above which a product needs a cadmium warning, so one scoop from this lot sits just above it. The EU's maximum for cocoa powder sold to consumers is 0.60 mg/kg (0.60 ppm). Cocoa takes up cadmium from soil, which Bryan Johnson pointed out in April 2025 when he posted that a 6 g serving of Blueprint cocoa then contained 4.1 mcg.

Lead measured 0.068 ppm, or about 0.4 mcg in 6 g, under Proposition 65's 0.5 mcg a day. Arsenic was 0.049 ppm and mercury 0.052 ppm. Aflatoxins were not detected, and the microbial tests passed Blueprint's specifications. Each report covers one lot, so check Blueprint's certificates page for the batch you receive.

In February 2025 the Environmental Research Center sent a Proposition 65 notice to Continuance LLC, which does business as Blueprint, over lead and cadmium in Blueprint Cocoa Powder and Blueprint Nutty Pudding. The two sides settled out of court on June 2, 2025, for $25,000: a $2,000 civil penalty and $23,000 in attorney fees and costs. According to the California Attorney General's summary, the settlement bars Blueprint from selling either product in California above 0.5 mcg of lead or 4.1 mcg of cadmium a day unless it carries a Proposition 65 warning. It is a settlement, not a court ruling on the product.

Blueprint suggests mixing 1 scoop with nut milk, coffee, a smoothie or a shake in the morning or early afternoon, and recommends adding it to Blueprint Longevity Protein. Cocoa is not part of Bryan Johnson's January 2026 daily protocol.

Blueprint's store listed a bag at $41 when we checked in October 2026, or $38.95 on autoship. At 60 scoops that is about 65 to 68 cents a scoop.

Proposition 65 levels decide when a product needs a warning label; they are not a measure of harm from one product, and the EU limit applies to products sold in the EU. The sources cover one lot of this cocoa and one cocoa-extract trial, not the health effect of eating this powder every day.