"When is chocolate not chocolate? That question is under current consideration by the FDA, and the agency's possible answer has stirred strong feelings among both makers and consumers of chocolate.
The FDA is involved because it has the authority to set standards for food products. These standards are to ensure that the consumer gets what he thinks he is buying, not a product that is almost the same thing.
Standards for chocolate have changed only twice since the 1940s. One change involved the manufacturing process. The second change was to define the ingredients that constitute what can be labeled as "white chocolate."
The standard for chocolate now requires that it have two ingredients: cocoa, which gives it flavor, and cocoa butter, which provides the satisfying smoothness and melt in one's mouth feeling. Anyone can make a food product now without cocoa butter, but the food must be labeled "chocolate- flavored," and not "chocolate."
There are two changes proposed to the standard for what constitutes chocolate. The first change is to allow any vegetable fat to be substituted for the cocoa butter. The second change is to allow milk protein concentrate, a.k.a. whey, to be used instead of real milk.
Lisa Sharp, co-owner of Sharp's Candy, said that if the proposed changes go into effect, the resulting products "won't be chocolate." She compared the difference in taste to chocolate as it is now "as apples and oranges."
Sharp's chocolate has "a very high cocoa butter content." Sharp feels that's what makes it stand out from other candy store chocolates. Sharp didn't think that any maker of high-quality candy would use the altered chocolate. She predicted that even makers of mass-market candy bars would see sales slump. "And if they can't sell it, Hershey and Nestle aren't going to use it."
Larry Kezele, president of Ruth Hunt Candy Company, agreed that, "We should not modify or downgrade our definition of real chocolate." Kezele conceded that candy made with chocolate compounds instead of cocoa butter offer some advantages, including lower cost and stability under adverse conditions, such as direct sun or high humidity.
But when the two kinds of chocolate candy are side by side, "The taste of real, unadulterated chocolate, and the melt-in-your-mouth sensation of real chocolate compared to a chocolate compound is leagues better, richer, fuller and much more pleasant," he said. Even before the chocolates are tasted, Kezele added, "The smell [of the real chocolate] is incredibly different."
Chocolate lovers espouse the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. They see no reason for the FDA to change the official standards or anything else about their favorite food. That's why they are so upset about the Pandora's box that the FDA may be persuaded to open.
Leading opposition to the changes is Gary Guittard, a fourth-generation chocolatier. Guittard's rallying cry, quoted in media nationwide, is, "No one can afford to sit back and eat bonbons while America's great passion for chocolate is threatened."
Those who wish to persuade the FDA to allow the changes in chocolate seem to be mostly, if not entirely, national trade groups. They include the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Snack Food Association.
The Sacramento Bee's editorial page (reprinted nationwide) reported that these powerful industry groups "have filed a 'citizens petition' to the FDA."
The trade associations' motive is, of course, profit. Cocoa butter costs $2.30 per pound, compared to 70 cents for a pound of vegetable fat.
The publicists for these associations are, says the Bee's editorial, trying to suggest there is "some groundswell in society to water down chocolate, reducing costs and potentially increasing profits throughout the economic food chain."
For more information, chocolate lovers should check out www.guittard.com or dontmesswithourchocolate.guittard.com. The second site has instructions for submitting a comment or protest about the proposed changes in chocolate. The FDA has extended its deadline for receiving input from the public to June 25, 2007.
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