Save the Whales... No, Screw the Whales, Save the Chocolate

Ok, I am not even a big fan of chocolate and I am still appalled by an effort currently underway to velveetize the stuff.

What am I talking about? A bunch of cut-rate chocolate and candy makers, as well as lobbyists, have filed a "Citizen's Petition" with the FDA to be allowed to call products made without cocoa butter "chocolate." These products are already on shelves: they're the uber-nasty "chocolatey" or "chocolate-flavored" cheapo crap that make Ex-Lax taste like gourmet by comparison. The petitioners allege that consumers wouldn't care and wouldn't even notice if they were allowed to call these vegetable oil-laden monstrosities "chocolate." This is like saying no one notices that Velveeta is not quite cheese, or that strawberry Qwik is not exactly bursting with berries from nature's bounty. (For the record, I like Qwik, but would never consider it a fruit product.)

Nevermind that "chocolatey" products have a waxy, unpleasantly chewy mouthfeel. Cocoa butter is natural (and also expensive) while the cheaper hydrogenated oils and trans fats manufacturers want to be able to substitute and call the result "chocolate" are artificial and associated with a variety of health issues.

Fortunately, there is something we can all do. Until June 25, we can post public comments against this ridiculous petition. Of course, you could also post a comment in favor of the petition, but I'd hunt you down and force you to eat crap "mockolate" until you exploded.

The easiest way to get to the FDA's public comment page for the petition - and to get more information so you can make up your own mind, pro or con - is at CandyBlog's Don't Mess With Our Chocolate page.

You can read the actual language of the petition there, and then click on the "Don't Mess with our Chocolate" graphic to get to the FDA docket public comment page. Godspeed.