Lately, I find myself looking and shaking my head at all the fancy labels and verbiage the commercial chocolate companies are using to promote their product. No harm in doing that.
Grocery store isles filled with a variety of Hershey, Mars, Twix, Snickers, etc. The choices are endless. These are our everyday "go-to" chocolate. And righteously so, for they are affordable with a price ranging between $1 - $3. Not bad for a quick sugar rush.
But when a big company advertises that their bar is “Special Dark”, I begin to wonder how far they will go to misguide a consumer.
Let’s get some basic understanding going first.
Dark chocolate is simply a combination of cocoa (bean + butter) + sugar {stone ground, ball mill, roller mill, etc doesn’t matter}.
Simple, right? That would be too easy.
When talking about dark chocolate often there is a mention of % Dark {remember cocoa (bean + butter) + sugar}. It indicates the cocoa content in the bar.
70% Dark = [70% cocoa + 30% sugar]
= [(65% cocoa bean +5% cocoa butter) + 30% sugar]
Note: ratio of cocoa bean to butter varies from maker to maker.
Coming to the “go-to” dark chocolate bar. Let’s take Hershey’s Chocolate bar, Special Dark, mildly sweet bar. As listed by Smartlabel this bar contains sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk fat, cocoa processed with alkali, lecithin and natural flavors. Sounds like a milk chocolate bar more than a dark chocolate bar.
So, is it a Dark Chocolate bar as indicated by the name on the packaging? or is it a milk chocolate bar as indicated by the ingredients listed?
Big commercial chocolate companies have now adapted to the changing dietary needs, passing trends, and fads that pop up like mushrooms after the rain. But clearly are missing the mark in providing details of the chocolate and it’s contents.
This bar is
NOT VEGAN,
NOT DAIRY FREE,
NOT LECITHIN FREE,
NOT SOY FREE
thereby causing more harm to the unsuspecting consumer who thought they were eating a healthier version of a chocolate bar.
Does this quality as a chocolate bar?
Maybe, maybe not.
Knowing the ingredients and knowing the origin is important specially in today’s world. An educated consumer makes wiser choices. Know your food, know their struggles in producing a food.
Next time you see a label “Dark Chocolate”, turn it around and look for % (no need to hide it), look at the ingredients for hidden additives like milk.
Disclaimer: I personally did not eat purchase this bar, the ingredients listed are details provided by Hershey on their website. The allergen list indicates that the product contains milk, and soy and is processed in a facility that handles almonds but does not mention any other nut such as peanut.