What the FDA Has to Say

If it’s true that we are what we eat, I guess the first step to knowing what we are...is to know exactly what we are eating!  It’s not too difficult to look at labels before you buy your chocolate, but what exactly do they mean?  For example, something called “chocolate” could contain 70% sugar.  So, let’s see what the Food and Drug Administration has to say about chocolate labels.

The FDA defines unsweetened chocolate as the solid or semiplastic food prepared by finely grinding cacao nibs; it must contain between 50 and 60% cacao fat.

(Sidenote: If warning bells are going off in your head about the word “semiplastic” describing something you will be ingesting-- I am with you!  After looking in to this, I found that “semiplastic,” describes the state of a compound that is solid but somewhat malleable, as in, a piece of chocolate vs. chocolate syrup.  What a relief!)

If you want to choose healthy, looking for unsweetened chocolate is your best bet, as it contains the highest concentration of flavonoids, anti-oxidants, and natural stimulants.  Keep an eye out-- this type of chocolate can go by many names: "chocolate liquor", "chocolate", "bitter chocolate", "baking chocolate", "cooking chocolate", "chocolate coating", or "unsweetened chocolate coating."

Now, if unsweetened chocolate doesn’t satisfy that craving-- don’t worry!  Studies show that treats with 60-70% unsweetened chocolate still provide the healthy benefits of the natural cacao bean.

Here is how the FDA defines chocolate that has additives.

Bittersweet chocolate: 35 to 99% unsweetened chocolate, and less than 12% sweeteners or dairy ingredients. 

Sweet chocolate: 15 to 34% unsweetened chocolate, and at least 12% sweeteners or dairy ingredients.

Milk chocolate: At least 10% unsweetened chocolate, at least 12% milk solids, and at least 3.39% milkfat.  (I guess that leaves 74.61% left over for ingredients like...sugar!)

Here’s where it gets tricky.

White chocolate: defined by the FDA as the solid or semiplastic food prepared by intimately mixing and grinding cacao fat with dairy ingredients and nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners; it must contain at least 20% cacao fat, at least 14% milk solids, at least 3.5% milkfat, and no more than 55% nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners.  It also must be free of coloring material.

Even though this treat can be labeled as a type of “chocolate,”  it contains no nutritious cacao solids.  In other words, it is possible that the cocoa butter lotion on your bed-stand contains more cocoa content than the Lindt white chocolate bar you put on the other side of your bed-stand.

So now you know-- if you want the best chance of getting those healthy flavonoids, chose a chocolate that is high in cacao content.  I mean, think about it-- your mother did say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"-- but would she say the same thing for a candied apple?