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Question: what if Hershey went from using cocoa butters in their chocolate to using vegetable fats and artificial sweeteners?
That's what might happen. They're asking the Food and Drug Administration to change the standards in which chocolate is made and classified, to "modernize" the making of chocolate. Hershey isn't the only company asking the question, it's everyone.
This is sacrilege! We all know that chocolate, even when its high in fat and calories, has a lot of health benefits too. And if people want to have diet chocolate or a chocolate substitute, there are plenty of products already on the market. Changing the taste of Hershey chocolate would be like changing America, damn it!
Check out this site to record your protest.
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4-25-2007 @5:16PM Sarah said... A little late on the pickup, aren't we? Today is the LAST day to issue a complaint on the FDA website.
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4-25-2007 @5:25PM rob sama said... Ditto that.
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4-25-2007 @5:45PM cybele said... The comment period has been extended to May 25th.
I'm running a couple of raffles on my site (you can win real chocolate).
While it's easy to blame Hershey's for this, the petition was filed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association of America (and also signed & supported by the Chocolate Manufacturers of America). The large agribusiness concerns have much to gain from these new changes (in more than the chocolate arena, that this proposal covers) because they provide the replacement oils as well as make a lot of chocolate.
Look at ADM and Cargill and all they have at stake here.
Consumers have much to lose.
While real chocolate would never go away, it would become very confusing for customers, especially in combination products such as "Chocolate Chip Cookies" or places where you don't have access to a list of ingredients like restaurants, chocolate shops or bakeries.
The chocolate products they're proposing, as you mentioned Bob, are already allowed by the FDA, they're just named more obviously as pseudo-chocolate products.
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4-25-2007 @6:04PM Dmnkly said... I might feel more strongly about this if Hershey's were a decent chocolate to begin with, but I kind of feel that railing against Hershey's for lowering the quality of their chocolate is like railing against McDonald's for lowering the quality of the Big Mac's special sauce... quality wasn't exactly what I expected in the first place.
That said, I understand there are other peripheral issues involved.
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4-25-2007 @6:25PM Karen said... Please update us with the outcome of this proposed change.
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4-25-2007 @7:25PM Tyguy said... I thought Hershey's already made their chocolate out of wax!
Honestly, I've eaten health bars that have "Chocolate substitute" listed on the label and its the worlds most disgusting thing. I once entertained my English class in college for about 10 minutes just by describing how bad the chocolate substitute was while I ate the bar in front of my peers. So, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect if this is allowed, and its really bad news.
I think most chocolate is pretty bad in the USA. I lived in Germany for many years and there is just no comparison between European chocolate and ours in the states. I tend to only buy my chocolate from Trader Joes now as they have fantastic imported swiss bars at insanely low prices... so creamy!!! Although I do only use nestle semisweet morsels in my chocolate chip cookies.
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4-25-2007 @11:07PM Troy said... Kudos to Hershey for a step in the right direction - more consumer choice, not less. Even without knowing whether the restrictions are antiquated, I'm comfortable deciding whether I want cruddy, dirt cheap chocolate or 85% premium cacao. Let Hershey make chocolate however they want to.
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4-26-2007 @2:32AM Sofia said... So basically, ANY mixture of cocoa powder and fat would be called chocolate? That seems so... wrong. Like cybele said, it would be impossible to know that you were getting in a restaurant or bakery.
Then again, I'm biased against any sort of decision that would make it even easier for ADM to water down the American "culinary tradition" any more.
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4-26-2007 @2:51AM Dmnkly said... Troy, you've got it all wrong.
It has nothing to do with consumer choice. Hershey's is free to make their confections out of vegetable fats and artificial sweeteners any time they wish. The issue is whether they can continue to legally call it chocolate. It's a matter of truth in advertising. You can't put peaches in a can and call it asparagus. It's also the same reason carob can't be marketed as chocolate... because it isn't. The argument is that once you remove cocoa butter, the resulting product ceases to be chocolate, and must be sold under a different name. While I can't say it's something that gets me rankled, I have to agree... if it isn't made with cocoa butter and cocoa powder, it isn't chocolate and to sell it as such is misleading at best.
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4-26-2007 @9:21AM Laura said... I saw this on Slashdot the other day and was appauled. I doubt the decent chocolate makers (Hershey, Mars, Gheradelli, Lindt, etc.) will change their formulas. At least, I hope they wont!
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4-26-2007 @1:51PM Kim said... Hershey's is already a major user of oils in their chocolate - that's why it doesn't taste like other chocolates - "melts in your mouth and not in your hand" because most of the fat in their chocolate is hydrogenated oils....That's why it is one of the worst tasting chocolates out their.
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4-26-2007 @3:07PM David said... ... out whose?
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4-26-2007 @8:42PM Aaron said... I dont see what's wrong with that?
Many chocolate sauces use vegetable oil in recipies, and it shouldnt be against the law.
Its simple, those who use it instead of cocoa butter, i wont buy. If everyone did that, then pure economics will force them to use real ingredients.
And if that doesnt happen, and people dont read ingredients, which they dont, then they wont mind eating fake chocolate anyways.
techzeitgeist.wordpress.com/
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4-26-2007 @10:00PM Dmnkly said... Aaron...
Once again, there is NOTHING ILLEGAL about making "chocolate" with vegetables oils. The debate isn't over whether they should be able to use vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter. They can do that anytime they want! The debate is over whether it should still be legal to call it chocolate!
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5-02-2007 @8:10PM Chuck said... If they allow Tootsie Rolls on the market and allow them to be referred to as chocolate, well then it should be anything goes....
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5-02-2007 @8:17PM Donna said... I AM A CHOCOHOLIC. I live not far from PA and have grown up on Hershey's chocolate. Keep it the way it is or at least let people choose how the want their chocolate.
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5-02-2007 @8:27PM Ron said... In Hershey's case, these changes couldn't make that junk any worse tasting. To make matters worse, they bought Cadbury and ruined them, too.
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5-02-2007 @8:31PM Carmine Bricchi said... SORRY PEOPLE but nobody mentioned Hersey producing CADBURY chocalate under license of the
Cadbury Ltd, and that is way better that Hershey anyday. Hersey taste crude compared to the smooth taste of that english chocalate, even if Hershey makes it here, CB
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5-02-2007 @8:33PM Marilyn said... Hershey's has already changed some of their formulas.The Hershey's Kisses of today are NOT the same as they were a few years ago. It was the kiss of death for my family--we no longer buy them. We've switched to Dove chocolates. Also, the Hershey Pot of Gold chocolates are the worst tasting chocolates you can buy. I put them out at a Christmas party and watched as people took a bite and then spit them into napkins. We had to throw them out because you can't give any kind of "chocolate" to dogs.
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5-02-2007 @8:34PM TerriJ said... Sure, go ahead. Hershey's is one of the worst tasting chocolate bars around. It leaves a nasty, sour aftertaste in your mouth. Once you've had good chocolate, you know the difference. Europe definitely has us beat when it comes to chocolate.
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