Chocolate That Isn’t Chocolate: Brands That Don’t Comply According to Profeco

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Chocolate powder is a product made from sugars, a blend of cocoa (obtained from powdered cocoa cake), and other optional ingredients. Here, we’ll tell you which chocolates don’t meet their net content claims.

Chocolate is a beverage or treat commonly enjoyed in many regions of our country. It’s available in various forms, including chocolate tablets or powder for making drinks, often mixed with milk. As a staple in Mexican households, it’s essential to know which brands fall short of their declared standards, according to Profeco (Federal Consumer Protection Agency).

Profeco conducted a study examining chocolate tablets and chocolate drink powders to ensure that consumers are truly getting chocolate. Here’s what they found:

  1. Chocolate Tablets (for Drinking):
  1. These products are made from sugars, cocoa paste, and additives.
  2. The chocolate should contain a minimum of 20% cocoa, including 11% cocoa fat and 9% defatted cocoa.
  3. Brands that fell short include:
    • GOLDEN HILLS (Tablet Chocolate / 540 g): Contains unauthorized fat, even though NOM-186-SSA1/SCFI-2013 allows up to 5% vegetable fat other than cocoa (only six types of vegetable fats are permitted).
    • MOCTEZUMA CASERO (Tablet Chocolate / 270 g): Declared net content is up to 6.5% less than stated.
    • ABUELITA Original Nestlé (Tablet Chocolate / 270 g): Contains up to 6.0% less net content than declared.
    • La Suiza (Tablet Chocolate / 360 g): Declared net content is up to 4.2% less.
  4. Chocolate Powder (for Drinks):
  1. These products are made from sugars, a blend of cocoa (derived from powdered cocoa cake), and other optional ingredients.
  2. Chocolate powder should contain at least 18% cocoa, 80% sugars, and 2% other ingredients.
  3. Brands that didn’t meet the standards include:
    • VITAMIN CHOCO GENIUS (Mexico / Fortified Chocolate Powder with Vitamins and Minerals / 385 g): Fails to declare trans fats or added sugars per 100 ml of prepared product or energy content per serving.
    • DON GUSTAVO (Granulated Chocolate Powder, 25% less sugar than traditional granulated chocolate / 250 g): Declared net content is up to 12.8% less than stated.

Remember, chocolate labels should include warning seals, precautionary legends, product names, pre-packaging information, net content, and nutritional declarations.

Source: La Silla Rota

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