What To Look For When Buying Chocolate?

[Gametime]

Hey Guys!

Been craving chocolate recently and happily found LOADS of likely culprits here in the UK without Soya Lecithin!

Is there anything better to look out for? Certain ingredients that are better or to avoid? Is milk choc okay or is dark choc superior, like nice to have some variety with Choc and get some milk choc in? Milk powder okay? Cocoa mass okay? Milk solids okay? Cocoa in powder form etc? Cocoa butter or no Cocoa butter, Better if the ingredients are as minimal as possible etc? Is sugar okay or is only sugar cane okay etc? The more dark the better? Does the cocoa HAVE to be raw?


These are just a few of the good ones i've found linked below, Do you think any of them are better than others etc? Any of them to avoid and why with certain ingredients?

Sainsbury's - Please enable cookies or JavaScript

Tesco Finest Swiss 85% Dark Chocolate Bar 100G - Groceries - Tesco Groceries OR Tesco Finest Swiss 72% Dark Chocolate Bar 100G - Groceries - Tesco Groceries

Morrisons The Best 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate at Morrisons OR Morrisons The Best 41% Cocoa Milk Chocolate at Morrisons

(Then i found some superior organic chocolate, this is probably the best one but its expensive compared to others): Montezuma's 73% Cocoa Very Dark Chocolate Organic 100 g (Pack of 4): Amazon.co.uk: Grocery

 

[Tenacity]

Dairy Milk is the best brand in the UK, I've found. It's the only familiar brand that lacks soy lecithin.

That Morrison's Milk Chocolate looks even better, though.

 

[jyb]

Generally brands have at least one or two soy free option, including the very common ones (Lindt 70% and over). Montezuma can often be found in Waitrose. However, you may need to buy from higher quality brands (online or at a large Waitrose) if you want white or milk chocolate bars without soy.

 

[Steve123]

Generally brands have at least one or two soy free option, including the very common ones (Lindt 70% and over). Montezuma can often be found in Waitrose. However, you may need to buy from higher quality brands (online or at a large Waitrose) if you want white or milk chocolate bars without soy.

Thanks for pointing out the Lindt I'll look forward to munching on that!! Got a morrisons milk choc in my original post that looks good.. so are all the ingredients in the Lindt etc all peat friendly ? ( Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Natural Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Solids: 70% min) ? So your saying as long as it doesn't have the soy and all these other rubbish additives, then all the different variations of cocoa are okay including cocoa mass etc? And the sugar type is not an issue, doesnt have to be pure came sugar and refined or what ever sugar used in Lindt is okay? Thanks dude!

 

[Steve123]

Dairy Milk is the best brand in the UK, I've found. It's the only familiar brand that lacks soy lecithin.

That Morrison's Milk Chocolate looks even better, though.

Dairy milk is not no bad! So you saying also that as long as there's no soy in there and additives etc then the different variations of cocoa are all good? Like in Lindt there's Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Natural Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Solids: 70% min, they be all peat friendly and also sugar quality doesn't matter is that right? Thanks dude!

 

[Tenacity]

Yeah, that's right - I think all types of chocolate are safe so long as it lacks nasty preservatives.

Dairy milk is not no bad! So you saying also that as long as there's no soy in there and additives etc then the different variations of cocoa are all good? Like in Lindt there's Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Natural Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Solids: 70% min, they be all peat friendly and also sugar quality doesn't matter is that right? Thanks dude!

 

[Frankdee20]

Hey Guys!

Been craving chocolate recently and happily found LOADS of likely culprits here in the UK without Soya Lecithin!

Is there anything better to look out for? Certain ingredients that are better or to avoid? Is milk choc okay or is dark choc superior, like nice to have some variety with Choc and get some milk choc in? Milk powder okay? Cocoa mass okay? Milk solids okay? Cocoa in powder form etc? Cocoa butter or no Cocoa butter, Better if the ingredients are as minimal as possible etc? Is sugar okay or is only sugar cane okay etc? The more dark the better? Does the cocoa HAVE to be raw?


These are just a few of the good ones i've found linked below, Do you think any of them are better than others etc? Any of them to avoid and why with certain ingredients?

Sainsbury's - Please enable cookies or JavaScript

Tesco Finest Swiss 85% Dark Chocolate Bar 100G - Groceries - Tesco Groceries OR Tesco Finest Swiss 72% Dark Chocolate Bar 100G - Groceries - Tesco Groceries

Morrisons The Best 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate at Morrisons OR Morrisons The Best 41% Cocoa Milk Chocolate at Morrisons

(Then i found some superior organic chocolate, this is probably the best one but its expensive compared to others): Montezuma's 73% Cocoa Very Dark Chocolate Organic 100 g (Pack of 4): Amazon.co.uk: Grocery

I love dark chocolate but I try buying any that don't contain additional additives. Many are contaminated with lead and cadmium though. Either from machinery or the soil.

 

[raypeatclips]

Dairy milk is not no bad! So you saying also that as long as there's no soy in there and additives etc then the different variations of cocoa are all good? Like in Lindt there's Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Natural Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Solids: 70% min, they be all peat friendly and also sugar quality doesn't matter is that right? Thanks dude!

@Tenacity Dairy milk has a couple of e numbers I am unsure about, I'm surprised you mentioned it as a safe chocolate. (It is delicious though)

E442 Ammonium phosphatides and e476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate. I don't know anything about these but imagine avoiding them would be better than consuming them. There is lots of good chocolate alternatives without them.

 

[Steve123]

@Tenacity Dairy milk has a couple of e numbers I am unsure about, I'm surprised you mentioned it as a safe chocolate. (It is delicious though)

E442 Ammonium phosphatides and e476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate. I don't know anything about these but imagine avoiding them would be better than consuming them. There is lots of good chocolate alternatives without them.

Yeah I noticed that aswell with dairy milk. Any thing you look for or avoid when buying chocolate? Lindt looks good: Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Natural Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Solids: 70% min ... would you say they are all okay? Or something you would ask a chocolate company about before buying?

 

[raypeatclips]

Yeah I noticed that aswell with dairy milk. Any thing you look for or avoid when buying chocolate? Lindt looks good: Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Natural Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Solids: 70% min ... would you say they are all okay? Or something you would ask a chocolate company about before buying?

Yeah that Lindt is good and I have bought a lot, very easy to find in most supermarkets. Basically just avoid anything that doesn't need to be there, lecithin, e numbers.

 

[Tenacity]

@Tenacity Dairy milk has a couple of e numbers I am unsure about, I'm surprised you mentioned it as a safe chocolate. (It is delicious though)

E442 Ammonium phosphatides and e476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate. I don't know anything about these but imagine avoiding them would be better than consuming them. There is lots of good chocolate alternatives without them.

I'm not sure that it's 100% safe, I just figured those preservatives were better than soy lecithin. I've never had the pleasure of finding a milk chocolate that lacked any preservative completely, unfortunately.

 

[AthenaT]

Hi I am also from the UK, and have to agree that the best I've found for milk chocolate has to be Cadbury's, but I usually just buy Tesco's 75% - 80% dark chocolate (their own brand is only £1 and it doesn't use Soy lecithin) and I have had pleasant reactions to it. :) I also just buy Tesco's cocoa powder and make my own hot chocolates and that seems to suffice, although I'm not sure yet how important organic cocoa powder might be in comparison... :]

 

[Gametime]

Yeah that Lindt is good and I have bought a lot, very easy to find in most supermarkets. Basically just avoid anything that doesn't need to be there, lecithin, e numbers.

Great, just got some today now, absolutely delicious.. How much do you eat of it weekly? And would 70% dark cocoa be okay or 85% ?

Also I spoke with Lindt they said their 90% and 99% dark chocolate uses dutched cocoa which is alkali cocoa powder, but the 70% and 85% Lindt dark chocolate is without dutched cocoa.. which is better? Is dutched cocoa a problem? (Can only get the 70 and 85% anyway)

Cheers!!

 

[Waynish]

I don't find lindt very good. There are much better chocolates out there. Go to the healthfood store and yet something expensive :)

 

[raypeatclips]

Great, just got some today now, absolutely delicious.. How much do you eat of it weekly? And would 70% dark cocoa be okay or 85% ?

Also I spoke with Lindt they said their 90% and 99% dark chocolate uses dutched cocoa which is alkali cocoa powder, but the 70% and 85% Lindt dark chocolate is without dutched cocoa.. which is better? Is dutched cocoa a problem? (Can only get the 70 and 85% anyway)

Cheers!!

I don't eat much chocolate at all. I used to eat about 20-60 grams a day of the lindt and I have no idea about different types of cocoa I am no chocolate expert haha. It is useful information to know though

 

[Zebra Collins]

I'm also in the UK and Lidl sell a dark chocolate for about 33p that contains minimal ingredients and sunflower lecithin instead of soy, the milk chocolate too but does contain hazlenut paste. Not that that really bothers me, I consume about a kilogram a week of the two combined.

 

[Steve123]

O

I don't eat much chocolate at all. I used to eat about 20-60 grams a day of the lindt and I have no idea about different types of cocoa I am no chocolate expert haha. It is useful information to know though

any particular reason why you stopped eating it?