I love Peeps. Not the creepy new ones that Just Born is releasing at every conceivable holiday, though. In fact, the black Halloween ones are just downright wrong, as are the filled marshmallows. But the marshmallow yellow chicks and purple bunnies are simply perfect. They're sweet and sugary, light and fluffy. They're made out of sugar, corn syrup and gelatin, in much the same way as homemade marshmallows. I always buy them around Easter and in the grand scheme of Easter confections, the low-cal, no-fat Peeps are not a bad option, with only 32 calories per peep.

The Italian government recently voted, almost unanimously, to uphold its decision to allow only products made with 100% cocoa butter to be labeled as "pure chocolate". Other fats are allowed in the products, such as those from milk, fruits and nuts, but the European Union currently allows up to 5% vegetable fats to be present in a product labeled as "pure chocolate". In both sets of definitions natural flavors and soya lecithin (non-genetically modified, in Italy) are allowed to be present in chocolate.

Italy introduced this definition of "pure chocolate" in 2003 in order to protect traditionally produced Italian chocolate from competition with imports, which were less expensive due to their partial use of non-cocoa fats. Italy, which may have to face the European Court of Justice because of its failure to recognise the European standards, is planning to petition the EU to obtain Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) status for its chocolate. Achieving this status would mean that the EU would recognise the Italian "pure chocolate" label and its assurance of 100% pure cocoa butter products made in a traditional manner.

Italian chocolate makers and cocoa growers have supported the government's efforts wholeheartedly. Chocolate is a 350 million euros ($424 million dollars) per year business in Italy, with the average Italian consuming nearly 10 pounds per year, a number which doubled in the past ten years and continues to grow.

A restaurant in Tokyo has introduced the world's first fast food sweets. These aren't your usual deep fried apple pies and chocolate chip cookies, either. This restaurant offers sweets that are made to look like traditional fast food offerings, from hamburgers to french fries. At first glance, a Mamido's Burger hamburger looks quite ordinary, but the taste reveals something entirely different. The "bun" is made of sponge cake and the "patty" is actually a molded chocolate cream. Their version of a breaded fish burger features a patty made from bananas and what looks like a side order of french fries, pictured above, are deep fried slices of custard cream.

Young people and women are generally the target market for sweets and confections in Japan, but the shop is proving to be popular with men, as well. According to the owner, a man who might be embarrassed to be seen eating a slice of cake, can walk along looking as though he is enjoying a burger!

[Via Fast Food News]