The Journal Of The InnKeeper

Chocolate is an indulgence that everyone can afford, and it provides comfort, pleasure and happiness. It truly is one of the worlds most unique and special foods.

However, if some members of the U.S. Chocolate Industry have their way, it will negatively change the quality of chocolate you love. Their plan is to change the basic formula of chocolate in order to use vegetable fat substitutes in place of cocoa butter, and to use milk substitutes in the place of nutritionally superior milk. These changes will have adverse effects on the eating, physical and nutritional quality of chocolate (including introducing bad trans fats in place of the more healthy fat in cocoa butter and it will change all recipes that use chocolate as an ingredient), and beg the question: What consumer benefit is associated with implementing these changes? The answer is none.

A number of traditional chocolatiers are very concerned that if a recent “Citizens Petition” submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (on behalf of a number of trade associations, including the US Chocolate Manufacturers Association) is approved, the chocolate that consumers know and love will disappear from the American market place. Instead of purchasing chocolate made only with 100 percent cocoa butter, consumers will be faced with an ever-increasing selection of lower quality “chocolate” products made with hydrogenated and chemically-modified vegetable fats -- many containing artery-clogging trans fats, manufactured solely for the purpose of cutting production costs.

It should be noted that in many countries around the world, the chocolate standards of identity permit the substitution of vegetable fats for cocoa butter…but only up to a level of 5 percent. However, the “Citizens Petition” submitted by the Grocery Manufacturers Association would permit manufacturers to use these substitute vegetable fats (some of which are chemically modified) up to 100 percent in their replacement of cocoa butter. This request goes far beyond any other standards used in the world and would further degrade the quality of US chocolate that we all have come to love and enjoy.

To date, the FDA has only heard from the chocolate industry. But, the FDA absolutely must hear from those consumers who love the current gold standard of chocolate so that the FDA can have a more balanced viewpoint. If the Chocolate Manufacturer's Association succeeds with their agenda, the consumer will inherit what is most lucrative for them to produce rather than the high quality product we all currently enjoy and desire.

Please communicate your dissatisfaction regarding the cheapening the quality of real chocolate to the FDA by going to "How to Help" (http://dontmesswithourchocolate.guittard.com/howtohelp.asp). Your opinion is important and needs to be heard along with the collective outrage from other consumers. We hope this effort will have a favorable impact on the FDAs decision-making process and will cause it to reject the industrys proposal.

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