Milk in dark chocolate, brands tested by the FDA

Last Valentine’s Day, the FDA issued press releases about having found milk in a lot of dark chocolate samples that they tested, including some that claimed to be dairy-free or vegan as well as in a lot that claimed to only have traces or a risk of milk from shared equipment. I submitted a FOIA request to ask for details, and last spring the FDA put up a lot more details at:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAllergens/ucm446646.htm

However, this didn’t include the actual brands and manufacturers of chocolate that they tested. It just included internally-assigned ID codes. After some pushing they sent me the list of codes for the report they put online. I’m not sure this has been publicly released before now.

A few of the FDA’s results stand out to me, as a concerned consumer. I was sad to see that “Ghirardelli SemiSweet Baking Bar” and “Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Baking Bar” both had more milk than two of the chocolate bars that listed milk as an actual ingredient, but better safe than sorry. “Rescue Chocolate 66% Dark Chocolate” claimed to be vegan on the packaging, showed no warning about milk, and contained milk. “Ethereal Confections; 66% Cacao, Strawberries, Rose Petals, Pink Peppercorns” and “Oskri Almond Dark Chocolate Bar” claimed to be dairy-free or lactose-free on the packaging, showed no warning about milk, but contained milk. And most of the chocolate bars tested that had warnings about shared equipment or possibly containing traces of milk, while not listing milk as an actual ingredient, in fact did have milk in them. Some of them had more milk than chocolate bars that listed milk as an actual ingredient.

Here you go, world:


Related to http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAllergens/ucm446646.htm

Table 1. Dark Chocolate- FDA Web Posting: Identification of Chocolate Samples

Chocolate ID, followed by Chocolate Brand/Manufacturer

C1 Dagoba Organic Chocolate

C2 Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Coconut Caramel

C3 Hershey’s Special Dark Sweet Chocolate

C4 Russell Stover Fine Dark Chocolate Candy Bar

C5 Russell Stover Fine Dark Chocolate Candy Bar

C6 Whitman’s Weight Watchers Bite Size Dark Chocolates

A1 Block Chocolate 70% Dark Chocolate

A2 Block Chocolate 55% Dark Chocolate

A3 Chocolate Decadence Pure Dark Chocolate

A4 Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier

A5 Trader Joe’s PoundPlus Dark Chocolate from Belgium

A6 Bissinger’s Dark Chocolate

A7-Lot A Vega Maca Chocolate

A7-Lot B Vega Maca Chocolate

A8 Cacao de Chuao Origins, 77% Extra Dark Chocolate

A9 Lily’s Dark Chocolate, 55% Cocoa: Original

A10 Ghirardelli SemiSweet Baking Bar

A11 Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Baking Bar

A12-Lot A Callebaut Bittersweet

A12-Lot B Callebaut Bittersweet

A13 Salazon Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Crushed Organic Coffee

A14 Salazon Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Crushed Black Pepper

A15 Vosges Black Pearl Bar

A16 E. Guittard Ambanja Bittersweet

A17 Sweet Shop USA Dark Chocolate with Sea-Salted Almond

A18 Dillon’s Chocolates

A19 Fannie May 70% Dark Chocolate

A20 Ghirardelli 100% Cacao

A21 Baker’s Unsweetened Baking Chocolate

A22 Ghirardelli Intense Dark Twilight Delight 72% Cacao

A23 Ethereal Single Origin Chocolate Bar, 80% Cacao, Ecuador, Notes of Walnut, Banana & Toffee

A24 Newman’s Own Organics Dark Chocolate 54% Cacao

A25 The Cocoa Study Center Bar Bittersweet Chocolate

A26 Amano Dos Rios Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao Minimum

A27 Peru Chulucanas Love Bar; 75% Dark

A28 Lillie Belle DarkStar 80%

A29 French Broad Chocolates 68% Cacao Matagalpa, Nicaragua

A30 NuGO Free Dark Chocolate Crunch

T1 Chocolove Dark Chocolate 55%

T2 Chocolove 77% Extra Strong Dark Chocolate

T3 Chocolove Rich Dark Chocolate 65%

T4 Lindt 85% Cocoa Extra Dark

T5 TCHO 99% Dark Chocolate Critters

T6 Sulpice Le Chocolat Noir

T7 Eclat Chocolate Good & Evil Peruvian Nacional 72% Cacao

T8 Sweetriot Fair Trade and Organic Pure 85% Dark Chocolate

T9 Patric 70% Cocoa; Signature Blend

T10 Askinosie Chocolate; Honduras 70%

T11 Pacari Raw Chocolate 100% Cacao

T12 Sulpice Chocolat Gingembre

T13-Lot A Trader Joe’s Organic Dark Chocolate

T13-Lot B Trader Joe’s Organic Dark Chocolate

T13-Lot C Trader Joe’s Organic Dark Chocolate

T14 Lake Champlain Dark Chocolate

T15 Simply Lite Dark Chocolate with Almonds

T16 Simply Lite Dark Chocolate

T17 PocoDolce Bittersweet with Sea Salt

T18 TCHO Purenotes 65% Cacao, Ecuador, Dark

IC1 Theo Chili 70% Dark

IC2 Sjaak’s Organic Dark Chocolate

IC3 Vosges Super Dark Pomegranate & Gogi

IC4 NibMor Mint 72% Cacao

IC5 NibMor Extreme 80% Cacao

IC6 Endangered Species Organic Dark 70%

IC7 Madre Triple Cacao; Dominican 70% Dark

IC8 Bixby Bar Whippersnapper 72% Dark Chocolate, walnuts, blueberries, black pepper

IC9 Ethereal Inclusion Chocolate Bar, 66% Cacao, Topped with Cayenne Pepper, Cacao Nibs & Cherries

IC10 Escazu 81% Single Origin Carenero Venezuela facility that handles milk products

IC11 Fearless Organic Deepest Dark, 85%

F1 Taza Chocolate

F2 Dark Chocolate Dream

F3 Gnosis Chocolate Simplicity 70% Raw Cacao

F4 Divvies Bingo Dark Chocolate

F5-Lot A Premium Chocolatier Milkless Dark Chocolate Semisweet

F5-Lot B Premium Chocolatier Milkless Dark Chocolate Semisweet

F6 Amore di Mona Chocolate

F7 Enjoy Life boom Chocoboom Dark

F8 Amanda’s Own Chocolate Bar

F9 Shufra Bittersweet Baking Bar

F10 Righteously Raw 80% Cacao Acai

F11 Ethereal Confections; 66% Cacao, Strawberries, Rose Petals, Pink Peppercorns

F12 Oskri Almond Dark Chocolate Bar

F13 Dandelion Chocolate 70% Mantuano, Venezuela

V1 Lulu’s Raw Love Chocolate 78%

V2 Righteously Raw Rose Bar Maqui & Banana & Toffee

V3 Righteously Raw Maca & Cacao

V4 Rescue Chocolate 66% Dark Chocolate

NS1 Lieber’s Bittersweet Chocolate

NS2 Lieber’s Semisweet Chocolate

NS3 Indulgence Chocolatiers

NS4 Lagusta’s Luscious

NS5 Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Dark Chocolate

NS6 Mast Brothers Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao

NS7 Artisan Confections Bittersweet Bark with Candied ginger, toasted coconut & cocoa nibs

NS8 Black Mountain Chocolate; Dominican Bar 70% Cacao

NS9 Kohler Dark Chocolate Bar 55%

NS10 Dick Taylor Chocolate Ecuador Camino Verde

NS11 Olive and Sinclair Chocolate; Southern Artisan 75%

NS12 NuNu Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao