How Much Magnesium Is in Dark Chocolate? Amounts by Cacao Percentage

Short answer: according to USDA FoodData Central, dark chocolate with 70–85% cacao contains about 228 mg of magnesium per 100 g, or roughly 65 mg in a 1 oz (28 g) piece. At 60–69% cacao the figure is 176 mg per 100 g, and at 45–59% it is 146 mg. The higher the cacao percentage, the more magnesium: milk chocolate has 63 mg per 100 g and unsweetened baking chocolate 327 mg.

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.

Magnesium in dark chocolate by cacao percentage

Magnesium rises with the cacao percentage: USDA's dark chocolate entries go from 146 mg per 100 g at 45–59% cacao to 228 mg at 70–85%.

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

*Calculated by us from USDA's per-100 g values and Health Canada's Daily Value of 420 mg.

Two points to keep in mind. USDA groups 70% to 85% in a single entry and has no separate entry for 90% chocolate, so a figure for "85% dark chocolate" or "90% dark chocolate" on its own is not something we can give you from this data. And the values are averages of analysed samples, not those of any particular brand: two samples in the 70–85% group ranged from 195 to 277 mg.

To understand what the percentage on the wrapper measures, read our guide to chocolate percentages.

Dark, milk, white, unsweetened and cocoa powder compared

Cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate contain the most magnesium per 100 g; white chocolate contains very little.

Food (USDA entry)	Magnesium per 100 g	Per 1 oz (28.35 g)*
Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened	499 mg	141 mg (about 27 mg per tablespoon of 5.4 g)
Baking chocolate, unsweetened	327 mg	93 mg
Dark chocolate, 70–85% cacao	228 mg	65 mg
Dark chocolate, 45–59% cacao	146 mg	41 mg
Milk chocolate	63 mg	18 mg
White chocolate	12 mg	3 mg

*Calculated by us from USDA's per-100 g values; the 5.4 g tablespoon is USDA's own measure for cocoa powder.

The pattern follows the cocoa solids. Canada's compositional standard makes white chocolate from cocoa butter, milk ingredients and a sweetening ingredient, with no minimum of cocoa liquor or fat-free cocoa solids, and it sits at the bottom of the table. Cocoa powder, made from partially defatted cocoa liquor, sits at the top. Whether dark chocolate has magnesium at all, and why, is covered in our sister article Does dark chocolate have magnesium?

How much magnesium adults need

Health Canada uses a Daily Value of 420 mg of magnesium on Canadian labels; the US National Institutes of Health set the adult recommended intake at 310–420 mg a day depending on age and sex.

Age	Men	Women	Pregnancy	Breastfeeding
19–30 years	400 mg	310 mg	350 mg	310 mg
31–50 years	420 mg	320 mg	360 mg	320 mg
51 years and over	420 mg	320 mg	–	–

Recommended Dietary Allowances from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Magnesium fact sheet for health professionals (updated January 2026).

• Absorption: the NIH notes that the body absorbs roughly 30% to 40% of the magnesium in food and beverages.
• Upper limit: the NIH sets a tolerable upper intake of 350 mg a day for adults, but only for magnesium from supplements and medications; it does not include magnesium found naturally in food.

For anything about your own diet, ask your doctor or a registered dietitian.

Dark chocolate compared with other sources

At about 65 mg per ounce (our calculation from USDA data), 70–85% dark chocolate gives less magnesium per serving than the pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds, spinach and cashews on the NIH's list of food sources, and about as much as ¼ cup of peanuts. The NIH list itself does not include chocolate.

Food and serving	Magnesium
Pumpkin seeds, roasted, 1 oz	156 mg
Chia seeds, 1 oz	111 mg
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 oz	80 mg
Spinach, boiled, ½ cup	78 mg
Cashews, dry roasted, 1 oz	74 mg
Dark chocolate 70–85%, 1 oz*	65 mg
Peanuts, oil roasted, ¼ cup	63 mg
Black beans, cooked, ½ cup	60 mg
Peanut butter, smooth, 2 tablespoons	49 mg

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Table 2; *dark chocolate calculated by us from USDA FoodData Central (FDC 170273).

Dark chocolate also brings calories and sugar with its magnesium. Our guides to calories in dark chocolate and sugar in dark chocolate give those figures.

For producers: cacao percentage and your recipe

If you make chocolate, bonbons or baked goods, the magnesium in your product follows the cacao you put into it: the higher the share of cocoa solids, the higher the value in USDA's data.

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

USDA's figures are averages of analysed samples, not the values of our products. If you want to state magnesium on your own label, base it on the nutrition data of the exact ingredients you use or on a laboratory analysis of your product, and check the wording with a labelling specialist.

Choose the cacao percentage of your couverture

Bassan's Sur del Lago 71% is a dark couverture made in Canada from Venezuelan Trinitario cacao with ancestral Criollo lineage, for ganaches, moulded bonbons, tablets, entremets and chocolate drinks, in 1 kg, 5 kg and 20 kg formats.

View dark chocolate couverture →

Work from cocoa mass and cocoa powder

Our Natural Cocoa Liquor Wafers are 100% natural cocoa mass from Peruvian fine cocoa with no added fat or sugar, for cakes, brownies, cookies, sauces and fillings. The Dutched 20/22 cocoa powder is Peruvian cacao alkalized with potassium carbonate, sold in 25 kg bags for bakeries, energy bars, ice cream and drinks. KKO Real, the Venezuelan cocoa we distribute exclusively in Canada, adds a Venezuelan origin to the range.

• View the Natural Cocoa Liquor Wafers → from $29.99 CAD
• View KKO Real cocoa →

Start from the bean

Our Sur del Lago beans 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. Our Venezuelan nibs are made from Carenero Superior, Río Caribe Superior and Sur del Lago beans.

• View the Sur del Lago cocoa beans → from $80.00 CAD
• View the Venezuelan cacao nibs → from $69.95 CAD

How AI can help your production

Give an AI assistant your recipe in grams and the nutrition data for each ingredient from your suppliers' sheets or labels. Ask it to calculate magnesium per 100 g and per piece, and to show how the figure changes if you move from a 55% to a 71% couverture or add cocoa nibs. It can lay out the numbers your labelling specialist will need, so you spend your time on the recipe rather than on the arithmetic.

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

Dark chocolate and cacao at Zucchero Canada

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

View all cacao →

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 | Cocoa powder | Cacao | Does dark chocolate have magnesium? | Sugar in dark chocolate

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) and "Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened" (169593); Health Canada, "Nutrition Labelling – Table of Daily Values"; NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, "Magnesium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals" (updated January 6, 2026); CFIA, Canadian Food Compositional Standards, Volume 4; Zucchero Canada product data for Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, Natural Cocoa Liquor Wafers, Dutched 20/22 cocoa powder, KKO Real, Sur del Lago cocoa beans and Venezuelan cacao nibs.