Why is there sugar in chocolate?

As with many questions, the answer is ‘it depends’. For chocolate, the amount of sugar depends on the type and quality of the chocolate. Cocoa Runners is a UK based website that promotes craft chocolate and publishes interesting articles. Recently they wrote about the sugar content of chocolate. Thank you to Cocoa Runners for inspiring this blog topic.

In the case of premium chocolate (variously categorised as craft / bean to bar / tree to bar/ single origin chocolate), sugar is added to accentuate the cocoa bean flavour. Adding a little sugar to chocolate is equivalent to adding a little salt to meat and vegetables; it brings out the flavours.

Pure granulated sugar is just a sweet taste (and grainy texture). Raw sugar doesn’t have any odour or flavour. Cocoa Runners tells us about the ‘holding your nose’ experiment, firstly with sugar and then separately with chocolate. Both are sweet tasting; only the chocolate, though, develops flavour and aromas when you release your nose. Don’t forget to have the chocolate at room temperature.

By adding small amounts of sugar, the craft chocolate maker transforms cocoa beans into fine chocolate bars with interesting flavours, textures and tastes. The cocoa drives the flavour. Try comparing two single origin bars to experience this varying flavour sensation. I like to compare Charley’s Mount Edna Mission Beach with Charley’s Karkar Island from with Papua New Guinea.

Premium chocolate doesn’t need a lot of sugar. A typical premium chocolate bar contains 70 per cent cocoa and 30 per cent sugar. By contrast, for cost effectiveness and product consistency, mass produced chocolate bars require sugar and added flavourings, fats and preservatives. Sugar’s added because it creates a ‘sugar-hit’ and because it’s inexpensive compared to cocoa. Sugar plus additives and flavouring conceal the flavour and taste of what cocoa there is in a mass-produced bar. Mass producers are seeking consistency not individuality of flavour.

A typical mass-produced chocolate bar could be 50 per cent or more sugar and as little as 30 per cent cocoa. Some people who would claim chocolate is bad because it’s full of sugar. Too much of anything isn’t a good idea which is why portion size is a very active topic among marketeers.

As a starter which has less sugar? A typical breakfast cereal or a dark craft chocolate bar? A low fat yogurt or a dark craft chocolate bar? Many people will be aware that breakfast cereals contain sugar. And that many breakfast cereals give a delightful sugar hit. Some cereals surprisingly contain a lot of sugar. Here’s some data providing a comparison of well known breakfast cereals with Charley’s chocolate.

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So, is it chocolate for breakfast? An alternate to sugary breakfast cereals may be yoghurt. Yoghurt’s not necessarily sugar free but some are better than others.

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Once again, on a portion size basis chocolate compares favourably. So, is it chocolate for that quick snack?

These comparisons can be taken further to include Coca Cola and wine. When the portion size is considered a craft chocolate bar (70 per cent cocoa) compares well. A 330ml can of Coca Cola contains just over eight teaspoons of sugar (35 grams of sugar). A bottle of red wine (750CL) has around six teaspoons. A craft chocolate bar (80 gram bar of 70 per cent) contains approximately six teaspoons of sugar. Most people drink the full can of coke in one sitting. Most people share the bottle of red wine. And most craft chocolate consumers share and savour the bar of chocolate over a few evenings.

BUT not all chocolate is created equal. If you examine the ingredients of a mass-produced milk (or dark) chocolate bar, you’ll notice the mass-produced bar contains a far higher sugar content (60 per cent in some cases) than the premium specialty chocolate.

So choose wisely and savour with friends. Or, better yet, savour over a number of sittings with that chocolate bar!!

Sources

Cocoa Runners

Woolworths

NB: Conversion rate for sugar to spoons is four grams per teaspoon

Is chocolate vegan and gluten free?

A vegan is a person who does not eat or use animal products. A vegetarian is a person who does not eat meat or fish, and sometimes other animal products. Choosing to be a vegan or vegetarian is often based on moral, religious, or health reasons. A gluten free diet is a diet that excludes the protein gluten.

Are you vegan or vegetarian or gluten free? Can a vegan eat chocolate? Yes. Can a vegetarian eat chocolate? Yes.

It can be challenging to determine which foods can be safely eaten and which should be avoided based on information and personal preference.

Chocolate’s a potentially confusing example. You may be surprised that some chocolate contains flour, barley malt, milk, honey or other gluten or animal derived ingredients. Which leads to the question is Charley’s chocolate gluten free and vegan? The short answer is yes. You should always read the contents on the label though.

Gluten

Gluten is a protein found in many types of grains including rye, barley, and wheat. Most people have no difficulty digesting gluten in its various forms. Eating foods containing gluten, however, can cause issues for people with celiac disease or those with a sensitivity to gluten.

For someone with celiac disease, consuming gluten triggers an immune response in the body. This then results in symptoms such as diarrhoea, nutritional deficiencies and fatigue. Those with simply a sensitivity to gluten can experience bloating, gas and nausea after eating foods with gluten.

The good news is that pure chocolate Is gluten free. High quality plain dark chocolate, for example Charley’s Mount Edna chocolate, comes from cocoa beans (theobroma cacao). Charley’s Mount Edna chocolate is made from cocoa nibs and cocoa butter, both part of the cocoa bean, and sugar. All are gluten free.

Many common brands of chocolate may contain 10–15 other ingredients including powdered milk, vanilla, soy lecithin, emulsifiers, stabilisers and flavourings. These ingredients may be added to improve shelf life, taste, texture, snap and mouth feel. Since cocoa beans are expensive compared to some other ingredients, cheaper chocolate’s most likely to contain more of these other ingredients. Many chocolate bars also have additions of nuts, raisins, chilli and other ingredients such as biscuit pieces.

So it’s really important to check the contents on the label.

Vegetarian and vegan

Again, the good news is that pure chocolate is suitable for those on a vegetarian or vegan diet. Pure dark chocolate, for example Charley’s Mount Edna that comes from theobroma cacao beans, doesn’t contain any animal or animal derived products. It’s made from cocoa nibs derived from roasted cocoa beans and cocoa butter and sugar, all of which are entirely vegetable products.

As with the gluten example above, the issue of concern can be with the additives including milk. While some vegetarians allow themselves milk and milk products, other vegetarians and many vegans generally do not. So milk chocolate may not be suitable.

Cross-contamination

Even if a chocolate product doesn’t contain any ingredients with gluten or animal products, it may have become cross-contaminated. Some labels warn you and say ’may contain traces of nuts’. An example could be a biscuit manufacturer who also makes chocolate. The contaminant quantities will likely be minute and so would be of little concern to most people; but could be detrimental to others. Reputable manufacturers would of course have procedures in place to minimise such cross contamination.

In summary, read the label and if still unsure contact the manufacturer to seek clarification. Premium dark is suitable for gluten free, vegetarian or vegan diets.

Is chocolate fermented?

Yes, cocoa is fermented– along with rice, wine, beer, coffee and some tea and other foods.

Does fermentation mean chocolate’s alcoholic? Well NO.

Does it mean chocolate has health benefits akin to cultured products like yoghurt? Probably no.

Does chocolate have other health benefits? Many are claimed; some verifiable and others a marketer’s dream but worth a subsequent blog topic.

Fermentation

Cocoa fermentation is a natural process: the outer whitish fibre of the cocoa bean dissipates and the naked coca bean remains, ready for drying and roasting.

Good cocoa flavour development depends on the fermentation process. Good quality cocoa beans which are not fermented well don’t have the flavour development necessary for producing good quality chocolate. Poorly fermented beans often develop off-flavours or have high acidity.

Ghana cocoa is widely regarded as the world’s best quality ‘bulk’ cocoa. It has a reputation for good and very consistent flavour attributed to a diverse, diligent grower base and a national quality assurance and marketing system. Ghana cocoa provides a standard against which other cocoas can be benchmarked. Conversely, much cocoa from Indonesia and Southeast Asia is of low and variable quality due to poor or non-existent fermentation practices. Some good quality Asian cocoa is produced from particular estates or regions where fermentation and drying are well managed.

Although fermentation is a complex process, the traditional techniques are simple and only basic hardware is required. The most primitive method is to wrap a ‘heap’ of cocoa beans in banana leaves. A slightly more sophisticated technique is to use specially constructed baskets or trays. The most common technique used in larger plantations, however, is to use slatted hardwood boxes which allow aeration and drainage of liquid ‘sweatings’.

In all cases, the fermenting beans are periodically ‘turned’ which aerates the mass of beans. Fermentation is generally conducted over five to seven days.

In practice things can and do go wrong; if everything goes right, however, the end result is cocoa of outstanding flavour. The challenge of course is to get everything right every time. So what can go wrong? Most issues arise with temperature which can greatly influence the fermentation success.

At Mission Beach we’re at the southern end of the latitude range for growing and processing cocoa. Our challenges are typically due to low winter temperatures. The most successful fermentations occur when the active fermentation starts almost immediately after the pods are opened and the beans extracted. The natural fermentation process is enabled when airborne and on pod wild yeasts react naturally with the fruit’s sugar component.

The fermentation cycle

At fermentation early stages, the bean mass will be at ambient temperature–this could be 20 0C in winter or 35 0C in summer. As the fermentation starts the temperature of the mass increases.

Good fermentation happens at above 45 0C. Therefore in winter we need to rise the cocoa mass by 25 0C; in summer by only 10 0C. At 45 0C temperature the ‘right’ yeasts are at work. At lower temperatures bad yeast and bacteria take over potentially contributing to ‘off’ flavours. So in winter heat pads are used to wrap the fermentation vessels or alternatively they are placed in heated spaces. Either works well.

Once the temperature is at the 45 0C point it remains there for approximately five days before declining, at which point different, undesirable yeasts and bacteria start to multiply. It’s therefore imperative to stop the fermentation at this exact point. Fermentation is stopped by putting the beans out in a thin layer no more than two beans thick for drying.

So, the bad yeasts have been tamed. The dried fermented beans are now in perfect condition for the next eight steps to produce delicious Charley’s chocolate.

Source

Yan Diczbalis, ‘Producing Cocoa in Northern Australia’, Australian Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation