The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday said it plans to convene a meeting of experts and academics by the end of the month for discussions on whether to set a clear-cut definition for chocolate, so that no product can be described as chocolate if it does not match the proposed definition.
According to FDA officials, the agency is considering amending its regulations on chocolate product labeling, so that “chocolate products” must contain at least 35 percent cocoa solids, or else they have to change their names to candies, cookies or another name that matches their ingredients.
The reason for the possible amendment is because many so-called chocolate products are mainly made out of flavoring agents, artificial coloring and other chemical ingredients, the officials said.
Nutrition Foundation of Taiwan chief executive Wu Ying-rong (吳映蓉) said chocolate is a good source of antioxidants, but most chocolate products sold across the nation are too sweet as they contain excessive amounts of sugar and other ingredients, while a chocolate chef said most popular products contain less than 10 percent cocoa.
Taiwan Confectionary, Biscuit and Floury Food Industry Association secretary-general Sunny Chen (陳朝陽) said he had received an invitation to attend the FDA’s planned meeting of experts, and that he would attend, adding that he would urge the administration to consider more opinions from the industrial sector, because amending the regulation would affect a NT$4 billion (US$122.9 million) industry.
The FDA Division of Food Safety deputy director Hsueh Fu-chin (薛復琴) said that based on the international Codex Committee on Cocoa Products and Chocolate, chocolate should contain no less than 35 percent of total cocoa solids, of which no less than 18 percent should be cocoa butter and no less than 14 percent should be fat-free cocoa solids.
However, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection has not defined a standard for chocolate, so the FDA said it would study chocolate regulations in other countries, investigate chocolate products, gather opinions from specialists and industry workers, and hopefully come up with a regulation before the end of the year.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) yesterday posted a video to Facebook that showed her questioning FDA Director-General Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美) and Minister of Health and Welfare Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) about the subject in June, saying that the FDA reluctantly agreed to face the problem after she requested it.
“Most of the chocolate products are made of chocolate flavored agents mixed with other types of fat [not cocoa butter], resulting in high levels of trans fats, and parents do not know their children are often eating food high in trans fat,” Lin said. “This is an irresponsible government.”
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