Does Dark Chocolate Have Magnesium? Dark, Milk and Cocoa Compared

Short answer: yes, dark chocolate has magnesium, and the darker it is, the more it has. USDA FoodData Central lists 228 mg of magnesium per 100 g for dark chocolate with 70–85% cacao, about 65 mg in a 1 oz (28 g) piece, or roughly 15% of the 420 mg Daily Value. Milk chocolate has 63 mg per 100 g and white chocolate 12 mg. Magnesium follows the cocoa solids: USDA lists 499 mg per 100 g for unsweetened cocoa powder and none for cocoa butter.

This article is for general information only and is not medical or nutritional advice. Always consult your doctor, pharmacist or a registered dietitian about your own situation, especially during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or if you have diabetes, allergies or a medical condition.

Does dark chocolate have magnesium? Yes, and cacao percentage decides how much

In USDA's analyses, magnesium rises with the cacao percentage, from 146 mg per 100 g at 45–59% cacao to 228 mg at 70–85%.

Chocolate (USDA entry)	Magnesium per 100 g	Per 1 oz (28.35 g)*	% of 420 mg Daily Value per oz*	USDA samples (range per 100 g)
Dark, 70–85% cacao solids	228 mg	65 mg	about 15%	2 samples (195–277 mg)
Dark, 60–69% cacao solids	176 mg	50 mg	about 12%	6 samples (156–190 mg)
Dark, 45–59% cacao solids	146 mg	41 mg	about 10%	5 samples (129–171 mg)
Milk chocolate	63 mg	18 mg	about 4%	27 samples (59–66 mg)
White chocolate	12 mg	3 mg	about 1%	3 samples

*Calculated by us from USDA's per-100 g values and the 420 mg Daily Value used by Health Canada and the U.S. FDA.

USDA groups everything from 70% to 85% in one entry, and its two samples ranged from 195 to 277 mg, so two bars with similar percentages can differ. These are averages of analysed samples, not the values of a particular brand. For the amounts in more detail, including cocoa nibs and baking ingredients, read our companion guide: how much magnesium is in dark chocolate.

Is dark chocolate high in magnesium?

A 1 oz piece of 70–85% dark chocolate gives about 65 mg of magnesium, close to an ounce of dry-roasted cashews in the NIH table.

Food and serving	Magnesium	Source
Pumpkin seeds, roasted, 1 oz	156 mg	NIH
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 oz	80 mg	NIH
Spinach, boiled, ½ cup	78 mg	NIH
Cashews, dry roasted, 1 oz	74 mg	NIH
Dark chocolate 70–85%, 1 oz	65 mg*	USDA
Milk chocolate, 1 oz	18 mg*	USDA

*Calculated by us from USDA's per-100 g values.

For context, the U.S. National Institutes of Health fact sheet lists the Recommended Dietary Allowance as 400–420 mg a day for adult men and 310–320 mg for adult women. The NIH notes that magnesium from food does not pose a health risk in healthy people, because the kidneys eliminate the excess; its upper limit of 350 mg a day applies to magnesium from supplements and medications.

Dark chocolate also brings energy: USDA lists 598 kcal per 100 g for 70–85% dark chocolate, about 170 kcal per ounce (our calculation). See our guides to calories in dark chocolate and sugar in dark chocolate. For anything about your own diet, ask your doctor or a registered dietitian.

Does milk chocolate have magnesium? And cocoa powder?

Milk chocolate has some magnesium, white chocolate very little, and unsweetened cocoa powder the most of any chocolate product in USDA's tables.

• Milk chocolate: 63 mg per 100 g, about 18 mg per ounce, from 27 analysed samples.
• White chocolate: 12 mg per 100 g, from 3 samples.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder: 499 mg per 100 g, or about 27 mg per tablespoon (5.4 g). Cocoa powder processed with alkali (Dutch-processed) is listed at 476 mg per 100 g, about 26 mg per tablespoon.
• Unsweetened baking chocolate (100% cacao): 327 mg per 100 g.

What type of magnesium is in dark chocolate?

Food databases and nutrition labels report magnesium in chocolate as total magnesium, in milligrams; they do not name a "form".

The names people search for, such as magnesium citrate, oxide or chloride, are forms used in dietary supplements, as the NIH fact sheet describes. USDA's chocolate entries simply list "Magnesium, Mg" per 100 g, and a Canadian Nutrition Facts table, when it declares magnesium, does the same in mg and % Daily Value.

Where the magnesium in chocolate comes from

In USDA's tables, magnesium follows the cocoa solids: the most in cocoa powder, none in cocoa butter.

USDA's values line up along the cacao chain: 499 mg per 100 g in unsweetened cocoa powder, 327 mg in 100% unsweetened chocolate, 228 mg in 70–85% dark chocolate, 63 mg in milk chocolate, 12 mg in white chocolate, and 0 mg in cocoa butter. The products with the most cocoa solids have the most magnesium.

That is why the cacao percentage on the wrapper is a useful first guide. Our guide to chocolate percentages explains what the number measures.

For producers: magnesium, your recipe and your label

For a chocolatier or bean-to-bar maker, magnesium is a result of the cacao ingredients you choose: in USDA's data, more cocoa solids means more magnesium, and cocoa butter adds none.

What you need	Product	Price
A 70%+ dark couverture for bars, bonbons and ganache	Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, 5 kg bag	$273.00
100% cocoa mass, no added fat or sugar	Natural Cocoa Liquor Wafers, 100% Peruvian cocoa	$29.99
Beans for your own bean-to-bar recipe	Sur del Lago cocoa beans, Venezuela	$80.00
Nibs for inclusions, baking and drinks	Venezuelan cacao nibs	$69.95
Cocoa powder for bakeries and production, 25 kg	Dutched 20/22 cacao powder, Peru, 25 kg	$710.00

Choose the percentage, and what fills it

Bassan's Sur del Lago 71% is made in Canada from Venezuelan Trinitario cacao with ancestral Criollo lineage, in 1 kg, 5 kg and 20 kg formats, with a bilingual technical sheet. Our Natural Cocoa Liquor Wafers are 100% natural cocoa mass from Peruvian fine cocoa, with no added fat or sugar: you decide what goes into the recipe around them.

View dark chocolate couverture →

Start from the bean

In bean-to-bar, you set the recipe: how much of the bar is ground bean, and how much is added cocoa butter and sugar. Our Sur del Lago beans, sourced through Canada Cacao Co., come from the southern basin of Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela: Trinitario cacao with 10–30% ancestral Criollo lineage, fermented to at least 65% uniformity and sun-dried over 7 days, in 1.5 kg, 5 kg, 20 kg and 60 kg formats, each lot with a Certificate of Origin. Our Venezuelan cacao nibs are made from Carenero Superior, Río Caribe Superior and Sur del Lago beans.

• View the Sur del Lago cocoa beans → $80.00
• View raw cocoa beans →

Planning a bean-to-bar line? Read how to start a bean-to-bar chocolate business in Canada.

Putting magnesium on a Canadian label

In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency allows a "source of" claim for a mineral when a serving of stated size provides at least 5% of the Daily Value, "good source of" or "high in" at 15%, and "excellent source of" or "very high in" at 25%. Magnesium is in Health Canada's Table of Daily Values at 420 mg, so those thresholds work out to 21 mg, 63 mg and 105 mg per serving (our calculation). If you make the claim, the Nutrition Facts table must declare the magnesium per serving, in mg and as % DV.

USDA averages are not your bar's values. Work with your labelling specialist to establish the magnesium content of your own product before you print a claim.

How AI can help your production

Give an AI assistant your recipe in grams (cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder, inclusions) and the nutrition values from each supplier's technical sheet. Ask it to calculate magnesium, sugar and energy per 100 g and per serving, and to show how the numbers change if you move from a 55% to a 71% couverture or add nibs. It can also lay out the figures your labelling specialist will need to check a nutrient content claim against the CFIA thresholds.

AI organises the information; tasting and the final decision stay with your chef.

Cacao and couverture at Zucchero Canada

We supply chocolatiers, pastry chefs and bean-to-bar makers across Canada with couverture, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, nibs and cacao beans. Bassan's Sur del Lago 71% is made in Canada and ships across Canada from our Calgary warehouse. We are also the exclusive distributor of KKO Real Venezuelan cocoa in Canada. Food products, including chocolate and cacao, ship within Canada only.

• Bars, bonbons, ganache: Bassan Sur del Lago 71%.
• Baking with full control of the recipe: Natural Cocoa Liquor Wafers.
• Volume baking, drinks and ice cream: Dutched 20/22 cacao powder in 25 kg bags.
• Bean-to-bar: Sur del Lago beans and Venezuelan nibs.

View all cacao →

Questions about sourcing single-origin Venezuelan cacao? Contact our team: we supply chocolatiers and pastry labs across Canada with full traceability documentation on every lot.

Buying for a bakery, hotel or production kitchen? Contact us for volume pricing, write to sales@zuccherocanada.ca or call 587-774-8873 (toll free 877-741-8251).

Dark couverture | Cacao | Raw cocoa beans | How much magnesium in dark chocolate | Is cacao good for you?

This article is for information only. Every business is different: draw your own conclusions based on your own expectations, budget and goals, and talk to qualified experts before you decide or invest.

Sources: USDA FoodData Central, entries "Chocolate, dark, 45–59% cacao solids" (FDC 170271), "60–69%" (170272), "70–85%" (170273), "Candies, milk chocolate" (167587), "Candies, white chocolate" (167571), "Baking chocolate, unsweetened, squares" (167568), "Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened" (169593), "Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened, processed with alkali" (169594) and "Oil, cocoa butter" (171421); NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, "Magnesium – Fact Sheet for Health Professionals" (updated January 6, 2026); Health Canada, "Nutrition Labelling – Table of Daily Values"; Canadian Food Inspection Agency, "Specific nutrient content claim requirements" (modified 2025-06-03); Zucchero Canada product data for Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, Natural Cocoa Liquor Wafers, Sur del Lago cocoa beans, Venezuelan cacao nibs, Dutched 20/22 cacao powder and KKO Real.