Let's face it: if you take a glace at the rapidly expanding chocolate section of almost any store, there is bound to be at least one product that needs a second (and much closer) look just to figure out the label. In this case, I'm not referring to products with unusual flavor combinations, but to those marked with a cacao percentage.

Consumers and manufacturers alike have gone crazy over chocolates labeled with their cacao percentage in the last year or so, and even though the numbers themselves are clear, not everyone understands what those numbers mean. Often, the percentages are equated with the quality of the chocolate, leading to the idea that the darker the chocolate, the better it will be in spite of the fact that the darkest chocolate - usually unsweetened, 99% cacao- is actually quite unpalatable.

The cacao percentage indicates how much of a given product, by weight, is made up of cocoa solids from the cocoa bean (cacao), like cocoa butter and cocoa powder. The rest of the bar is made up of sugar, vanilla and/or other ingredients, including milk and the occasional emulsifier. This basically means that a bar of chocolate with a higher cacao percentage will usually have more chocolate in it and a stronger cocoa flavor (i.e. it will be more bitter) than one with a lower percentage, but that doesn't necessarily mean that bars of equally high percentages will taste alike.

Two 65% dark chocolate bars, for example, might taste quite different because one could have more cocoa butter (fat) and less actual cocoa than the other, creating a difference in intensity and smoothness. Milk chocolate can have a high or low cacao percent because it is defined by the addition of milk, not the amount of cocoa. Since milk adds to the overall weight of the bar, most milk chocolates tend to be less than 50% cacao to allow sufficient room for both milk and sugar. It is also worth noting that white chocolate has a very high cacao percentage because it is made entirely of cocoa butter. Very few manufacturers will note this, however, because of the risk of confusing consumers that associate cacao, which refers to the whole bean and its components, with cocoa.

The cacao percentage is an indicator of quality if cocoa beans are your highest priority. Different manufacturers will used different grades of cocoa beans and single-origin chocolates, where all the cacao comes from one location, are popular now because they are perceived to be higher quality than blends. But even though the cacao can be a quality indicator (certainly no one wants chocolate with next-to-no cacao in it), the ingredients that make up the rest of the bar are really what will tell you how good the chocolate is. High quality chocolates will use only a few ingredients, "real" ingredients, like sugar, milk and vanilla, and will not have added vegetable oils or partially hydrogenated oils.

In short, higher cacao percents will usually give you a more intense chocolate flavor, whether you prefer milk or dark chocolates, and that flavor will vary from brand to brand even within the same percentage. The higher the number, the less sugar is in the chocolate. Chocolates with the fewest additives, regardless of the cacao percentage, will usually be the best bet in terms of quality and flavor, but the best way to decide what chocolates are best for you is by going out and tasting them, whether you choose to navigate the selection by cacao percent or not.