There are some things that should be sacrosanct. When I read recently
about the Food and Drug Administration considering the "re-definition"
of chocolate, I just about fell over. Yes, that's right--your
government is considering messing with what can be labeled as
chocolate. What's next, changing the ingredients of what we know as
red wine?

Currently, companies are able to produce chocolate products without
milk and cocoa butter and call them "chocolate flavored." With this
new proposal, these products will soon be labeled as the real deal,
which is a scary proposition for those who believe in the purity of
real foods.

While I am certainly not a chocoholic, I enjoy a good piece of
chocolate from time to time and I have read about the various health
benefits of small amounts of high-quality chocolate on a daily basis.
(High-cocoa dark chocolate has blood-pressure reducing qualities, as
just one benefit.)

The proposal to change the formulation was announced earlier this year
by the FDA following petitioning from the Grocery Manufacturers
Association (GMA) and Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) along
with other industry bodies. These people are calling for more
flexibility in the current regulations to reflect "changing consumer
attitudes and advances in manufacturing technology and ingredient
supplies." What a crock of cocoa that is.

Amendments to the current standard of identity could lead to chocolate
containing vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter and milk substitutes
in place of milk. Personally, I'll stick with imported, quality
European brands if this occurs and avoid anything made by CMA-
affiliated companies. I hope you will do the same.

Dave

Full text article above extracted from http://shamvswham.blogspot.com/