Save the chocolate!
The grocery aisles are lined with foods that are so far from nature that they have to bear labels such as "cheese product" (translation: it's technically edible, but your digestive tract may not glean any nutrients from it). Manufacturers usually cite cost savings and consistency as a key consideration, but I would love to see a real expense breakdown--after all the money these companies spend on research and development, are they saving that much cash by, say, figuring out how to dye, flavor, and compress guar gum into a cheese-like substance, instead of just curdling some milk?
Now I see on David Lebovitz's blog that the nickelfuckers (to borrow Martin Amis's phrase) are going after chocolate. The Grocery Manufacturers Association is petitioning the FDA to permit chocolate makers to substitute vegetable fats for cocoa butter and milk proteins for whole milk. As you may know, chocolate comes from cocoa beans, ground up to produce cocoa and cocoa butter, which is then mixed with sugar, vanilla, and sometimes other flavorings and milk. That's it. White chocolate doesn't include cocoa, so without the cocoa butter, it wouldn't have any cocoa content at all.
Chocolate manufacturers don't have to make these substitutions, of course, and artisanal makers certainly won't (then again, Hershey's has bought both Scharffen Berger and Dagoba, and who knows whether it will keep those products high end). However, the big companies that produce our favorite chocolate chips and candy bars will switch, and those companies that don't want to may have to in order to remain price competitive. That will probably mean changes in flavor and texture, not to mention more trans fats and chemicals in your treats.
So what can you do? Local chocolatiers Guittard and See's encourage consumers to post comments on the FDA's site. Get more information at www.dontmesswithourchocolate.com. The FDA is accepting comments only until April 25, so get clicking and spread the word!
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