What is That Unappealing Aftertaste in Low-Quality Chocolate?

Dubious chocolate manufacturers of chocolates of low distinction swap Polyglycerol polyricinoleate for cocoa butter (so they can sell you cheaper-to-make chocolate that tastes like cardboard and has been stripped of some of it’s most beneficial antioxidants it and then turn around and sell you the cocoa butter they removed as skin cream).

Ever wonder what that awful aftertaste is as you’re spitting out a bite of substandard chocolate? It’s PGPR, the chocolate industrial complex’s latest evil answer to if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Gone is the awesome taste of unsullied chocolate. Behold the gnarly taste of chocolate made from the fatty acids of castor oil.

For years, sub-quality chocolate manufacturers (Hershey’s, Nestle, Mars, et al) have been trying to get the FDA to allow them to replace the naturally-occurring cocoa butter with vegetable oil. Failing that, they succeeded in getting the cocoa butter – PGPR swap approved, ostensibly in the name of cost savings, but of course there’s a profit to made from that freed-up cocoa butter and hungry consumers with unhappy faces.

Not only does PGPR taste like crap, it also replaces a healthful component of chocolate. A 1996 UC Davis study on the health benefits of chocolate revealed that the powerful antioxidants in chocolate actually derived from cocoa butter and the stearic acid it produces.

So that’s the hand you’ve been dealt by the big money chocolateers: a substandard(er) bar of chocolate with an unsavory aftertaste and the healthful ingredients removed. And in return, we are able to give those chocalateers bigger profits. See! Everyone wins!!

Chocolate: A Healthy Treat

Here’s some good news for all you chocoholics – eating chocolate is good for you! Well, hang on a minute; let’s not get too excited just yet. I’m not saying that you can clear all the fruit and vegetables out of your cupboards and fill them with oversized chocolate bars and biscuits. ‘Everything in moderation’ as they say. ‘You can have too much of a good thing’ but ‘a little bit of what you fancy does you good’. Enough of the sayings and phrases and let’s talk facts.

Cocoa contains an antioxidant called flavanol and it’s this little component that could potentially have health benefits such as lowering blood pressure. As this is contained in the cocoa itself, you should obviously choose a chocolate bar with a high cocoa solid content, specifically dark chocolate. Dark chocolate generally has a much higher cocoa content than milk chocolate and the milk itself will dilute the effects of the flavanols. As white chocolate often doesn’t contain any actual cocoa, this won’t have any effect.

The downside is that as chocolate is high in both fat and calories, it’s difficult to really balance out the benefits compared to the fat intake and there’s a very fine line between the two. The obvious solution is to just have a small amount and that way; you’re getting a sweet treat but not over indulging. If only I could follow my own advice – I find it very difficult to open a bar of chocolate and just limit myself to a couple of squares. It doesn’t tend to last very long I’m afraid but maybe the answer is to just buy a very small bar, really enjoy and then know it’s gone. If there’s opened chocolate hanging around, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.