 As scientific research discovers more (and more) health benefits from dark chocolate, make sure that you're not consuming an alphabet soup of chemicals with each bite. PGPR, or polyglycerol polyricinoleate
, began showing up on the ingredient list of drugstore chocolate several years ago. PGPR is a goopy yellowish liquid made from castor beans that reduces the viscosity of chocolate. Since 2006, big chocolate manufacturers such as Hersheys and Nestle have been replacing the expensive raw ingredient cocoa butter with PGPR in their recipes.
Furthermore, in September 2008, MSNBC reported that several Hershey chocolate products were reformulated to replace cocoa butter with partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil as an emulsifier. According to the company, this change was made to reduce the costs of producing the products instead of raising their prices or decreasing the sizes. As the new versions no longer met the Food and Drug Administration's official definition of "milk chocolate", the changed items were relabeled from stating they were "milk chocolate" and "made with chocolate" to "chocolate candy" and "chocolaty." To most chocolate lovers out there, this last claim should come as sheer blasphemy!
Avoid additives, trans fats, and genetically modified sugar from beets by purchasing only Certified Organic and Fair Trade chocolate - for yourself and for others. Harvest Market is proud to offer a variety of absolutely delicious dark, milk and white chocolates, all of which are free from PGPR, genetically modified organisms, partially-hydrogenated oils and anything that you can't pronounce.  |
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