Mars Commits to Pure, Authentic Chocolate
We're a family-owned company, and one of a handful of companies still making our own chocolate. So we have the freedom to make these types of decisions and commit to creating only the pure, authentic chocolate that our consumers have come to expect. Chocolate that contains 100% cocoa butter. It tastes better and that's what our consumers have come to expect and told us they want.
With nearly 100 years of chocolate-making history, we are the world's foremost leader in chocolate research. That means no one knows more about chocolate than we do. And what we know for sure is that our consumers prefer real, authentic chocolate that is made with 100% cocoa butter. So we promise to not change our chocolate.
U.S. Standards of Identity are government regulations that define which ingredients may be used to make a food product in order to be allowed to call it by a certain name. For chocolate, the Standards of Identity require that cocoa butter be the only source of fat (except for milk fat). There are several other requirements too, such as a specific amount of chocolate liquor, use of flavorings and sugar substitutes. For more information, check out the following links:
U.S. Standard of Identity for Chocolate »
National Confectioners Association »
Don't Mess With Our Chocolate »
How do you tell if it's 100% real chocolate? A telltale sign is in the wording on the packaging. For 100% real, authentic chocolate, look for the words "milk chocolate", "Semi-sweet chocolate" or "Bittersweet chocolate". On the other hand, it's probably not real if you see the words, "chocolate flavor," "chocolate coating," "chocolaty," or "made with chocolate." And beware of packaging that implies chocolate, but doesn't even mention it.
Q. Does Mars plan to substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter in any of its chocolate recipes in the U.S.?
A. No. Our consumers love our chocolate the way it is. So we will continue to create the pure, authentic chocolate that contains no substitutes for cocoa butter.
Q. Will maintaining the Standard of Identity cost consumers more money?
A. No. We have always made our chocolate with 100% cocoa butter, so there will be no price changes solely as a result of this decision. However, there are always other market forces that can impact pricing.
Q. Is it healthier to substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter?
A. No. The current vegetable oils being substituted don't necessarily provide any health advantage to using cocoa butter.
Q. Would changing the Standard of Identity save Mars money?
A. There's no doubt that we could save money by substituting less costly ingredients. But it's not worth disappointing our consumers.
At Mars US, we take our chocolate as seriously as our consumers do. The U.S. chocolate standards permit only cocoa butter and milk fat as fat sources in real milk chocolate. However, some people want to broaden the U.S. chocolate standard to permit replacing some of the cocoa butter with vegetable oil. That's a change that our consumers oppose, and so do we.
Why Mars Chocolate is Real Chocolate
With nearly 100 years of chocolate-making history, we are the world's foremost leader in chocolate research. That means no one knows more about chocolate than we do. And what we know for sure is that our consumers prefer real, authentic chocolate that is made with 100% cocoa butter. So we promise to not change our chocolate.
U.S. Standard of Identity for Chocolate
U.S. Standards of Identity are government regulations that define which ingredients may be used to make a food product in order to be allowed to call it by a certain name. For chocolate, the Standards of Identity require that cocoa butter be the only source of fat (except for milk fat). There are several other requirements too, such as a specific amount of chocolate liquor, use of flavorings and sugar substitutes. For more information, check out the following links:
U.S. Standard of Identity for Chocolate »
National Confectioners Association »
Don't Mess With Our Chocolate »
Separating Real From Not Real
How do you tell if it's 100% real chocolate? A telltale sign is in the wording on the packaging. For 100% real, authentic chocolate, look for the words "milk chocolate", "Semi-sweet chocolate" or "Bittersweet chocolate". On the other hand, it's probably not real if you see the words, "chocolate flavor," "chocolate coating," "chocolaty," or "made with chocolate." And beware of packaging that implies chocolate, but doesn't even mention it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Does Mars plan to substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter in any of its chocolate recipes in the U.S.?
A. No. Our consumers love our chocolate the way it is. So we will continue to create the pure, authentic chocolate that contains no substitutes for cocoa butter.
Q. Will maintaining the Standard of Identity cost consumers more money?
A. No. We have always made our chocolate with 100% cocoa butter, so there will be no price changes solely as a result of this decision. However, there are always other market forces that can impact pricing.
Q. Is it healthier to substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter?
A. No. The current vegetable oils being substituted don't necessarily provide any health advantage to using cocoa butter.
Q. Would changing the Standard of Identity save Mars money?
A. There's no doubt that we could save money by substituting less costly ingredients. But it's not worth disappointing our consumers.
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