Chocolate lovers fight proposed FDA change

Chocolate lovers are fighting a proposed change to U.S. chocolate standards that would allow other fats to replace cocoa butter.

The current Food and Drug Administration standard says chocolate must contain cocoa butter. The proposed change -- listed in a petition supported by the chocolate lobby -- would make it possible to call something chocolate even if it had vegetable fat instead of cocoa butter, The Washington Post said Friday.

The newspaper said the products would still need to contain chocolate liquor.

Critics of the proposed change have started a grassroots letter-writing campaign to the FDA. They say some big chocolate manufacturers support the proposed change because vegetable fat, which contains trans fats, is less expensive than cocoa butter, which does not.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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