A consortium of candy manufactures wants to change the definition of chocolate. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association, whose members include Hershey, Nestle SA and Archer Daniels Midland Co., has a petition before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to redefine what constitutes chocolate.
When is chocolate no longer chocolate? The answer in my opinion is very simple. Chocolate is no longer chocolate the moment you stop using chocolate.
Are you still following me or have I gone to fast?
The consortium want to make it without the required ingredients of cocoa butter and cocoa solids, using instead artificial sweeteners, milk substitutes and vegetable fats such as hydrogenated and trans fats. Hershey, the largest
The Chocolate Manufacturers Association is attempting to change the definition of chocolate to protect themselves from any potential liability. Numerous manufacturing associations have attempted to perform the same switch. Margarine manufactures have attempted to call their product butter, but were turned down. Lobbying groups submit these types of proposals all the time to deceive the consumers.
Why would the Chocolate manufacturers association wants to change the definition of chocolate anyways? Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that the price of Cocoa beans has gone up. Perhaps it’s related to the price of vegetable oil which has dropped.
It’s tragic that lobbying groups would flood the system with selfish requests that add no value to the consumer. Hershey believes that they need to stop using chocolate to keep up with “changing consumer taste”. I talked to my friends who happen to be part of the same consumer group, and they are unaware that their cravings for chocolate have ever changed. Deep down inside it’s nice to know how candy companies feel about our kids. Candy is specifically marketed towards children, and it’s nice to know that these companies put a value on quality.
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