You may or may not have heard about the petition that has come before the FDA which proposes a weakening to the definition of chocolate. The Chocolate Manufacturers of America and the Grocery Manufacturers Association are trying to have the standard definition of chocolate changed so that a product which contains no cocoa butter can be called chocolate!
Why does this matter? Well, first of all when you substitute a cheaper fat or oil for cocoa butter the taste and mouthfeel changes -- it's not particulalry nice stuff. In addition, cocoa butter contains antioxidants -- these fats that they would be substituting are nasty. We're talking hydrogenated oils and the like. Things that clog your arteries. And there are other implications too. You can read lots more about it at Don't Mess with Our Chocolate. And also at one of my favorite blogs -- Candy Blog.
I've already left a comment for the FDA to let them know how I feel about this and you can too!
Keep the chocolate real!!
Why in the world can't consumers make up their own minds about what chocolate they want to buy? Who would want some idiot government bureaucrat telling companies what they can and can't call chocolate? Aren't chocolate eaters smart enough to make their own decisions?
Posted by: Robert Speirs | April 24, 2007 at 02:23 PM