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FDA Considers Redefining Chocolate
shewfig writes "The US Food and Drug Administration is considering redefining 'chocolate' to allow substitution of vegetable oil ($0.70/lb.) for cocoa butter ($2.30/lb.), and whey protein for dry whole milk. There are already standard terms to differentiate these products from chocolate, such as 'chocolatey' and 'chocolate-flavored.' The change was requested by the industry group Chocolate Manufacturers of America. Leading the resistance to this change is high-end chocolate maker Guittard, with significant grass-roots support from the Candyblog. The FDA is taking consumer comments until April 25. Here is the FDA page on the proposed change, which oddly enough does not say what the proposed change is."
Also, among the already mentioned items, there is a lot of pesticides in it:
[P]esticide residues routinely turn up in chocolate products sold in the USA5 and Europe.6 For as long as the leaders in the chocolate industry refuse to acknowledge that a pesticide problem exists, we have no hope of finding (or even looking for) a realistic solution to that problem.
see: http://www.tava.com.au/article_chemicals.html
I first ran into this in the book Diet for a Poisoned Planet. Peanuts and Chocolate were among the most contaminated foods in the American diet. Chocolate was high because it is imported from a lot of countries that do not have as tough of laws as we do (and ironically, they buy a lot of the chemicals from us!).transporter_ii
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
The Codex Alimentarius, the international standards body for food, has a standard for chocolate. They require >35% cocoa solids for "chocolate". And they limit other fats:
"The addition of vegetable fats other than cocoa butter shall not exceed 5% of the finished product, after deduction of the total weight of any other added edible foodstuffs, without reducing the minimum contents of cocoa materials. Where required by the authorities having jurisdiction, the nature of the vegetable fats permitted for this purpose may be prescribed in applicable legislation.
What are the numbers in the FDA proposal?
I used to be a pastry chef and I always viewed Ghirardelli as a cheapo -- better than Hershey's, but still not that good to eat and crap to work with.
Scharffen Berger is truly awesome stuff, though. I've only eaten one bar but it was clearly done right!
Take off every 'sig' !!
Hello, I couldn't help but spot this argument and decided to throw my two cents in.
a d-this-instant, Google it if you actually care) state of well being. This is where the more 'traditional' medicines are making a strong comeback along with new ideas of how to live healthy.
Cheers,
Socguy.
Firstly you are correct when you say that the world before modern medicine was a pretty shi**y place. Almost anything could kill you, like, say a broken leg which could leads to loss of blood or infection. Brain trauma, giving birth was a particularly dangerous undertaking, and a chariot accident was no picnic either. Anything like that happens to me and or someone I care about and you'll see me taking them to the hospital without delay. Western Medicine simply has no equal at this kind of thing.
On the other side of the coin, we are living FAR longer than we ever did in the past (due mainly to proper nutrition and sanitation!) and Western Medicine has a far poorer track-record dealing with the new diseases of the affluent world; Cancers, arthritis, diabetes, joint deterioration and so on (you're getting old!). So our society is re-examining what it means to be healthy. Back in the day, the absence of disease or obvious injury was enough, now health is something that can be achieved to a greater or lesser degree. This means that no matter how healthy you are now, you can always strive to better your condition. (Stop eating all those fatty foods!) The UN now defines health something like this: The complete physical, mental, social, spiritual and (something-else-I-can't-pull-off-the-top-of-my-he
The um.. stuff available UK shops fooled me once with the packaging, with them oranges on the package and some fake 'pure' and 'natural' phrases, then the smack in the face when drinking it learned me Skinner-style to avoid that sort of packages forever. Later I had to learn it again in the Czech republic.
In the early 20th century Dutch government passed a law to forbid calling margarine butter (even the Dutch word for peanutbutter translates to 'peanutcheese' because of that law!). So why not keeping 'chocolate' real and invent something new for these industrial bullies. Like we can buy have 'Cocoa fantasy' flakes for on the bread.
"This article explains that India is actually having a huge problem with heart disease"
p othesis.htm
Yes, I'm aware of that, but I've also seen studies that put that down to the, as you correctly point out, wealthier Indians using more expensive western oils on the basis that they are supposedly healthier.
"A study of more than one million males in India demonstrated that people in northern India consume more than seventeen times more animal fat than people in southern India. The incidence of CVD in northern India, however, is seven times lower than people in southern India. People in southern India consume much more vegetable oil than in the north."
Malhotra, SL., "Epidemiology of ischaemic heart disease in India with special reference to causation." Br Heart J, 1967; 29(6): 895-905.
This article is quite good too;
http://www.bullz-eye.com/furci/2006/fats_lipid_hy
Here is an excerpt, the site has full references for all the assertions made;
"Evolution of the unhealthy American
What's decreased?
* Animal fat consumption has dropped over 21% since 1910. [1]
* Whole milk consumption has decreased 50%. [15]
* The consumption of butter has decreased from 18 pounds per year to 4 pounds. [1]
What's increased?
* Over the past 80 years, cholesterol consumption has increased a mere 1%. [1]
* Vegetable oil consumption, including hydrogenated oils, has increased 437%. [15]
* Sugar consumption went from 5 pounds per year in 1900 to 163 pounds per year today. [16]
If animal fats (saturated fats) are so dangerous, and vegetable oils (polyunsaturated fat) are
so healthy, why are we so unhealthy as a nation? The scientific data of the past and present
does not support the assertion that saturated fats cause heart disease. As a matter of fact,
more than 20 studies have shown that people who have had a heart attack haven't eaten any
more saturated fat than other people, and the degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy is unrelated
to diet. [17] Saturated fats have been nourishing societies around the world for thousands of years."
There is a lot more evidence out there if you care to look. Such as a few years back when cattle farmers tried to use the saturated fats from coconut oil to fatten up their livestock for the Japanese market, only to find that their cattle LOST weight. They eventually solved the "problem" by feedign their cattle soy oil, which is allegedly less fattening.
Feel free to believe whatever you like, I really don't care. When Monsanto tells you that their patented seed stock is better than natural seeds I'm sure they only have your best interests at heart.
"You can't fight in here, this is the war room!"