This isn’t a word game. It’s something I’ve found over the years when I tell someone about it, they are amazed, shocked, and pissed off – – all in the same moment. Sometimes they don’t believe it, but when they fact-check me, they find out I’m giving them the straight skinny.
When we see “Chocolate Flavored” on a label, we all rightly believe we’re eating chocolate. I’m talking about some big brands that we all trust:
- Hershey’s Chocolate Flavored Syrup
- Pillsbury Chocolate Flavour Pancake Mix
- Jell-O Chocolate Flavored Pudding
- Swiss Miss Non-Dairy Chocolate Flavored Hot Cocoa Mix
The truth is that none of these products contain chocolate. They contain other ingredients cobbled together to impart a chocolate flavor. FDA defines “chocolate” very precisely, and if your product doesn’t measure up, you have to put “flavor” after the word “chocolate.” So, on a label, “Chocolate Flavor” means it isn’t chocolate. Food companies hide the ball further by making “flavor” much smaller on the label than “Chocolate.” So, to answer my question in the title of this blog post: Is “Chocolate Flavored,” Chocolate Chocolate?
The answer is, “No.”
So why does industry do this? Follow the money.
Chocolate has become very expensive because of dwindling supplies due to encroachment on orangutan habitat and a younger generation that would rather live in the city and play video games than live in the jungle and fight off mosquitoes. Can’t blame them.
One of the big parts of The Food Lawyers’ responsibility is scouring our chocolate clients’ ingredient statements to ensure the product actually qualifies as “chocolate.” Make a mistake and you’re embroiled in a class action, because plaintiffs’ attorneys are always on the lookout for phony “chocolate.” Me, I’m batting a thousand. I’ve never had a client wind up in a charlatan chocolate class action. I make them either reformulate or add the word “flavored,” or get another lawyer.
So, how do you and I know if we’re getting the real thing? Here’s the inside baseball:
- If the label says, “flavored,” you know it’s not real chocolate. End of discussion.
- If the label says “Chocolate” without the word “Flavored,” look at the ingredient statement for the words “chocolate liquor” or “chocolate,” or chocolate combined with another word (e.g., “white chocolate;” “milk chocolate”). These are the FDA-approved names of real chocolate. (“Chocolate liquor” isn’t alcohol. It’s just a food-science name for chocolate.) If you don’t see “chocolate liquor” or “chocolate,” call your local plaintiffs’ class action attorney. Ca ching. It’s payday for you.
FDA regulations specifically allow food companies to put “Chocolate Flavored” on non-chocolate products without further disclaimer or explanation. Why? Well, that’s one of the mysteries of life that is above my pay grade.
The Food Lawyers’ bottom line:
Follow my tips, and you’ll be “keeping it real” for your chocoholicism.