kAAKAO makers push for legal change to gain proper chocolate status

04 Jul 2018 --- The low-sugar, organic, date-sweetened kAAKAO bar should be called “chocolate,” according to the founder of Nordchocolate Oy, the company behind the innovation. kAAKAO wants their product to be a leading light in driving revisions to the EU laws, which presently constitute not only a challenging barrier to the market but are also prohibitive consumers’ demands for healthier choices, it says.

Because kAAKAO bars aren’t considered “chocolate” and EU law prevents the company behind the invention, Nordchocolate Oy, from using the term in any way, especially on the packaging.

Founder, Stephanie Seege, is pushing for a change in EU law which prevents the company from referring to the bar as chocolate. She says it’s vital to raise awareness around food labeling and to teach consumers how to decipher what they’re about to eat or buy. 

“An organic chocolate bar made with four premium ingredients that can’t be called ‘chocolate’ is a great example of how confusing current food labeling laws are,” she says. 

“How are consumers supposed to understand what we make? We want to change that.”

kAAKAO claims to have revolutionized “the art of chocolate making” by launching the bar of chocolate sweetened with dates suitable for vegans, people with allergies, intolerances, any religious eating preferences and people with diabetes. 

There is 25g sugar per 100g with a low glycemic index and one 40g bar of kAAKAO contains around the same amount of naturally occurring sugar as one medium-sized green apple, according to the company. 

The rise of “not chocolate” 
kAAKAO bars are made with cocoa, cocoa butter, coconut milk and sweetened with dates. According to European legislators, “chocolate” by definition is a combination of cocoa and added sugar. Dates – containing naturally occurring fructose and glucose – are not classified as sugar, and therefore kAAKAO is not chocolate.

Years were spent developing the recipe and sourcing new ingredients. The code was finally cracked together with a Swiss partner, thus, breaking tradition in the art of chocolate making and paving the way for a new “not-chocolate” category.