Keeping Our Favorite Chocolate ... Chocolate!

12/04/07 What makes chocolate...real chocolate? That's the essence of the concern that a number of chocolate manufacturers have raised because of content standards changes being considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that would change the composition and thereby the taste of America's chocolate.

The changes in standards were proposed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) on behalf of a number of trade associations including the US Chocolate Manufacturers Association in a "Citizens Petition" to the FDA, which has opened a comment period on the issue before taking action.

Gary Guittard, President of Guittard Chocolate Company of Burlingame, California -- a fourth generation maker of chocolate -- is joining with other chocolate manufacturers in asking the FDA to reject the proposed food standard changes that will affect chocolate products and to have regulators enter into a broad public dialogue with the chocolate industry, consumers, consumer advocates, retailers, nutritionists, health experts, and others with an interest in preserving the quality, taste and content of traditional American "chocolate."

"While all companies in the industry may have financial and economic concerns about the cost of doing business, the chocolate industry prides itself on delivering to the consumer high quality products. The industry adheres to strict Federal Standards of Identity that were first established in the 1940's and have only been changed since to reflect new manufacturing techniques in 1993 and again in 2002 to establish a Standard of Identity for white chocolate," said Gary Guittard.

"The Citizen's Petition proposed to FDA by the Grocery Manufacturers Association has many good points as it pertains to other foods, but if adopted it would allow the current "Gold Standard" for chocolate to be changed in a way that will ultimately result in short-changing the consumer and changing what we know and love as traditional chocolate. There are no clear consumer benefits associated with the proposed changes."

A part of the proposed changes in the Citizens Petition presented by the Grocery Manufacturers Association to the FDA is a change in the strict Federal "Standards of Identity" for chocolate products which would permit the use of cheaper vegetable fats instead of the traditional cocoa butter and lower-cost milk substitutes instead of genuine milk products. This change would permit the resulting products to still be called "chocolate."

The head of the 139-year old Guittard Chocolate Company, along with other industry leaders strongly supports food standards intended to establish a standard of identity and promote honesty and fair dealing with consumers. Federal food standards are intended to protect consumers by ensuring that products they purchase are what they are expecting. Food standards protect manufacturers by providing a level playing field for standardized products. Responsible manufacturers strongly support the existence of food standards, and most industry leaders believe that these should be aggressively enforced.

"White chocolate," "milk chocolate," "sweet chocolate," and "semi-sweet chocolate" are all terms familiar to consumers that are clearly defined (and whose manufacture is governed) by FDA Standards of Identity. For a product to bear one of these terms, manufacturers must comply with the specific formulation requirements in the appropriate standards. Changes in these standards can impact the taste and quality of the product and have it become something else -- not the traditional  "chocolate" Americans have enjoyed for more than a century.

Changing the current "Gold Standard" for chocolate by allowing the substitution of hydrogenated or chemically-modified vegetable fats for cocoa butter will also have a dramatic impact on cocoa growers in Central and South America, the Caribbean Basin, Africa, and nations in Southeast Asia at a time when the global chocolate industry is working to improve working and economic conditions of these developing countries' farmers. In fact, the plan to substitute these types of vegetable fats for cocoa butter would cause a disastrous economic impact on their livelihoods as the demand for cocoa butter would likely decrease and prices would plummet as some manufacturers switch to the cheaper substitutes.

Guittard Chocolate along with some other chocolate manufacturers is committed to preserving the quality and composition of chocolates that consumers know and trust. They are asking the FDA to reject the changes proposed by the GMA Citizen's Petition to the current "Gold Standard for Chocolate" and immediately enter into a broad, public dialogue with consumers, consumer groups, major and independent chocolate manufacturers, nutritionists, and retailers, and to solicit public comment to obtain a complete picture of the severe impact the proposal would have on the public and the entire industry. To this end, a Web site has been established to facilitate consumer and manufacturer comments at: http://dontmesswithourchocolate.guittard.com

"My family has been involved in the manufacturing of chocolate for 139 years," notes Gary Guittard. "Chocolate is not just my business - it is my passion and these changes would lead the way to the manufacturing of something entirely different ... that would not be the traditional chocolate that most of us know and love."