Obviously only American candy bars contain freedom. On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 12:20 AM, Jim O'Connell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> > Anyone ever notice that chocolate bars in Canada taste different from > chocolate bars in the US? I have no idea why this is. > > -----Original Message----- > >From: "Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent: Oct 26, 2008 11:14 PM > >To: [email protected] > >Subject: [FOODPOOL] Cocoa Butter > > > > > >http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5689239 > > > >Chocolate Lovers Pained by Candy Changes > >More 'Chocolate' Candy Bars Now Include Vegetable Oils Instead of Pricey > >Cocoa Butter > >By ALICE GOMSTYN > >ABC NEWS Business Unit > > > >For years, Sharon Leitner's candy bar of choice was Take 5. > > > >"I liked that it was a combination of different flavors," the Cincinnati > >resident said. "It was salty and sweet, [with] caramel and peanut butter > >and chocolate, and it had something for everybody." > > > >But this past spring, Leitner, 24, noticed a change. > > > >"It just didn't taste like it used to," she said. The new taste was > >"more waxy and artificial." > > > >A look at the bar's wrapper helped Leitner understand why: cocoa butter > >-- which experts say helps give chocolate its smooth, creamy taste -- > >wasn't on the candy's ingredients list. > > > >"Then I started noticing that there were all kinds of other products > >that didn't have cocoa butter," she said. > > > >Changes to the formulations of several candy bars has chocolate lovers > >like Leitner buzzing -- and not in a good way. > > > >Cybele May, the founder of the candy review Web site Candy Blog, said > >that in recent years rising cocoa prices have led candy companies like > >Hershey's -- the maker of Take 5 and the top chocolate-seller in the > >U.S. -- to replace cocoa butter with cheaper vegetable oils. The > >ingredients list for Take 5, for instance, now includes "palm, shea, > >sunflower and/or safflower oil." > > > >"They just ruined that," May said of the Take 5 bar. > > > >Hershey, meanwhile, stands by its products. The company "is committed to > >making the world's best chocolate," said spokesman Kirk Saville. > > > >The Cocoa Question > > > >While a "handful" of the company's products do include vegetable oils > >other than cocoa butter, he said, "we continue to make Hershey's, > >Hershey's Kisses, Reese's peanut butter cups with pure milk chocolate as > >we have for over a century." > > > > > >Ingredients for Whatchamacallit bars include palm kernel and soybean oil > >and may also include sunflower or safflower oil, according to the > >candy's wrapper. > > > > > >That defense -- that there are Hershey's products that still contain > >pure milk chocolate -- isn't enough for Leitner. > > > >"To me, shaving out the cocoa butter in the less-popular products kind > >of says that if you like Whatchamacallit [candy bars] you're less > >deserving of quality ingredients than say, someone who likes Reese's > >cups," she said. > > > >Cocoa Butter > > > >Cocoa butter is fat derived from cocoa beans. Like other commodities, > >cocoa prices have skyrocketed in recent years. In 2006, one metric ton > >of African cocoa butter cost less than $4,000. Today, it costs more than > >$8,100, according to Judy Ganes, the president of J. Ganes Consulting in > >Katonah, New York. > > > >Ganes, whose company specializes in research on tropical food products, > >said that a combination of growing global demand for chocolate and > >problems in cocoa-producing countries -- heavy rains in Indonesia and > >civil war in the Ivory Coast -- have driven prices to peaks not seen > >since the 1970s. > > > >"It certainly has hurt manufacturers," Ganes said. > > > >Ingredients: Truth About Food Labels > > > >In the United States, when a so-called chocolate bar doesn't include > >cocoa butter or includes other oils, it can't actually be labeled > >chocolate. > > > >"According to the Food and Drug [Administration's] regulations for > >chocolate, cocoa butter is the required fat for chocolate," said Susan > >Smith, the spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association. > > > > > >Take 5 used to be Sharon Leitner's favorite candy bar. But the > >Cincinnati resident says that Take 5's current blend of ingredients -- > >which, according to the candy's pacakaging, includes "palm, shea, > >sunflower and/or saffron oil" -- doesn't please her taste buds. > > > >In 2006, there was a challenge posed to this standard and to other > >standards for U.S. food products. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, > >the trade group representing the food, beverage and consumer products > >industry, petitioned the FDA to "modernize" its regulations. > > > >GMA spokesman Brian Kennedy said that the goal of the petition was to > >accommodate innovation in the food industry. > > > >He said that under current regulations, for instance, if food companies > >make pasta out of a blend of whole wheat flour and white flour, they > >can't officially call it "pasta." > > > >Made with Chocolate > > > >A blended product, he said, would probably be more palatable to > >consumers than 100 percent whole wheat pasta. But if the new product > >isn't called pasta, he said, people won't buy it. > > > > > >This package of Milk Duds includes the label "made with Chocolate & > >Caramel." Candy critic Cybele May said that words and phrases such as > >"made with chocolate," "chocolatey" and "chocolate candy" are sometimes > >used by candymakers to describe candy that doesn't meet the federal > >government's standards for chocolate. > > > > > >"When they want to have pasta, they want to purchase something that > >actually says pasta," Kennedy said. > > > >But when the GMA petition came to light, it was its implications for > >chocolate that got attention: An appendix to the petition noted that the > >changes could allow for manufacturers to use vegetable oils other than > >cocoa butter to make chocolate. > > > >Both consumers and small chocolatiers decried the proposed changes. In > >2007, Mars Inc., the No. 2 chocolate-seller in the U.S. and the maker of > >M&M's, broke ranks with industry peers and also came out against the > >petition. > > > >Chocolate Wars > > > >Europe has had its own chocolate wars. In 2000, after years of heated > >debate, the European Union struck an agreement allowing for chocolate > >products to contain up to five percent of oils other than cocoa butter. > > > > > >"Mr. Goodbar is made with chocolate but is not a chocolate bar," candy > >critic Cybele May said. The ingredients list for the bar does include > >cocoa butter, but it also includes "palm shea, sunflower and/or > >safflower oil." > > > >To date, the U.S. petition has gone nowhere. > > > >"FDA will complete the review of this petition in context of the > >Center's priorities," FDA spokesman Mike Herndon said in an e-mail to > >ABCNews.com. > > > >'Chocolatey' Goodness? > > > >Meanwhile, May said that candymakers can skirt the regulations for what > >can be labeled chocolate by emblazoning their wrappers with phrases like > >"chocolatey," "made with chocolate" and "chocolate candy." > > > >Hershey's Kissables, she said, are one example. May, who blogged about > >Kissables earlier this month, said that when the candy contained cocoa > >butter, the candy's wrapper included the phrase "milk chocolate." It's > >since been replaced with "chocolate candy." > > > >On the back of the Kissables wrapper, the vegetable oils used are listed > >as "palm, shea, sunflower, and/or safflower oil." > > > > > >There's a difference between the old Hershey's Kissables wrapper (above, > >courtesy of www.candyblog.net) and the new one. Candy critic Cybele May > >says the new wrapper no longer says "milk chocolate" because the candy's > >formula has changed. > > > > > >Such combinations of oils and that "and/or" conjunction can be found on > >other candy wrappers too. It gives candy companies the flexibility to > >change which ingredients they use when vegetable oil prices fluctuate, > >said Barry Swanson, spokesperson for Institute of Food Technologists and > >a professor of food science at Washington State University. > > > >"If one of those fats or oils becomes very expensive, they'll just use > >less of it," Swanson said. > > > >"I think anytime we're looking at increased costs, you're going to find > >more, shall we say, creative formulations to try to reduce the cost > >involved in producing a product," he said. > > > >Cocoa Substitutes > > > >May said that Hershey's isn't the only company that uses substitutes for > >cocoa butter. Baby Ruth bars by Nestle -- the third-biggest > >chocolate-seller in the U.S. -- once contained "real chocolate" but > >haven't had it for a long time, she said. > > > > > >Ingredients for Baby Ruth Miniatures include cocoa but also hydrogenated > >palm kernel and coconut oil. > > > >Nestle also recently introduced a Mexican bar in the United States > >called Carlos V. May said that the Mexican version of the bar was made > >of chocolate, but the American version is not. > > > >Attempts to reach Nestle's Mexican branch were unsuccessful. > > > >Patricia Bowles, the communications manager of Nestle Confections and > >Snacks for Nestle's U.S. branch, said that the changes to Baby Ruth's > >ingredients took place before Nestle purchased the brand in the 1990s. > > > >Overall, she said, economic conditions haven't led Nestle to change the > >formulas for its products. > > > >"We are not quick to change something that we know our consumers love," > >she said. > > > >Changing ingredients isn't the only way candymakers and other food > >producers cope with rising food costs; they can also change the sizes of > >their products and, most noticeably to consumers, they can raise prices. > >Both Mars and Hershey announced wholesale price increases earlier this > >month. > > > >Nestle, which also sells bottled water, frozen meals and other food > >products, has reported its 2008 profits were bolstered by price > >increases for its goods. > > > > > >> > > > > > -- AIM/Gmail Chat: damonbeau :: :: Wealth without work. Pleasure without conscience. Science without humanity. Knowledge without character. Politics without principle. Commerce without morality. Worship without sacrifice. --Gandhi's seven deadly social sins :: :: "Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania...." --King :: :: "Any time you have the opportunity to accomplish something and you don't, you are wasting your time on this earth." --Roberto Clemente --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World News Now Discussion List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/wnndl?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
