The Sweet and Bittersweet Debate Over Chocolate

When Cortez landed in Mexico, he found the inhabitants of the Aztec Empire favored a drink made from the beans of a local plant. The beverage was tasty enough that the Aztecs thought it to be the food that their gods ate. While the Europeans did not share the same belief, they developed a taste for it that exceeded that of the local inhabitants. Today, chocolate in various forms is sold around the world and it would be hard to imagine life without it. However, a petition filed with the FDA may affect what fans of the product eat in the United States.

Chocoholics, the food industry, and cocoa growers around the world will be watching a sweet and bittersweet but great tasting debate with a great deal of interest in the coming years. It started because the Grocery Manufacturer's Association, the Chocolate Manufacturer's Association along with ten other groups wanted to clarify how certain foods could be made.

A spokesperson from the Grocery Manufacturer's association said that the petition was filed with the FDA because current standards were antiquated and needed to be updated. What sparked controversy is which food will have the right to be called chocolate. In Europe, it took 30 years to settle whether foods made with vegetable oils could be sold as such and current rules allow only foods made with cocoa butter to share the same name with the food of the gods.

With the growing emphasis on what food contains, the groups representing the food manufacturers feel it is important to standardize how various products are made. The associations representing the food manufacturers filed the petitions in October of 2006.

The immediate benefit for the consumer in the United States for allowing the cheaper vegetable oils to be used is that of bringing the price down. Cocoa growers, however, worry that by allowing vegetable oils to be used instead of the cocoa butter it could affect their livelihood. Consumers are capable of buying such foods now, but they are simply not labeled as chocolate. While the debate that rages on in the United States may not be settled in the near future, it is likely that chocolate and chocolate favored products however they may be packaged will continue to remain popular. In the meantime, reading this article has probably made you hungry. Why not go purchase a Hershey bar and indulge your cravings? At least you know that it is made with cocoa butters.

Sources:

"Industry, Consumers at Odds over Chocolate Debate." Andrew Bridges. August 8, 2007. The Daily Item. Sunbury, PA

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/08/07/chocolate_0808.html