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‘Mockolate’ Controversy

April 27th, 2007 Molly

Recent proposed changes to food standard definitions set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), include the use of ”a vegetable fat in place of another vegetable fat named in the standard (e.g., cacao fat)” when manufacturing chocolate. 

The price of cocoa is rising and some big chocolate manufacturers favor the proposed change in regulations because they want to keep prices down on key ingredients by using less expensive vegetable fat, which can contain trans fats, instead of cocoa butter.

The chocolate industry as a whole has been touting chocolate’s health benefits — it contains flavonoids, which may benefit the heart and arteries.  Cocoa butter doesn’t raise cholesterol levels and chocolate doesn’t contain trans fats.  This would no longer be the case with the proposed change.  

If you are curious about the cocoa v. synthetics debate, click on the links below for recent news reports.

• An Argument Against ‘Healthy’ Chocolate 
• For Chocolate Purists, This is Not Good News
• Hershey Battles Chocolate Connoisseurs Over Selling `Mockolate’
• Rebel Against Proposed Change
• When is Hershey’s Chocolate Not Chocolate? 

If you are a cocoa purist and want to celebrate the antioxidants, rich taste and creamy indulgence of true chocolate, find fantastic books at the library that call for cocoa and chocolate, like The Essence of Chocolate:  Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate by John Scharffenberger or Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Desserts.

Entry Filed under: General News, Research Resources