How to identify cocoa-quality dark chocolate

More than 50% of in-store shoppers will also buy a chocolate product as part of their daily shop. The most common purchase is certainly 100g milk chocolate, but recently more and more people are turning to dark chocolate because they know its benefits for the body. But not all the dark chocolates we have to choose from are of good quality. This is why the uninformed shopper may end up with inferior dark chocolate in their shopping basket, which can have bad effects on the body and do more harm than good.

The best quality and healthiest would surely be 100% pure chocolate extract. Such chocolate is not found on the shelves of shops, as it is in liquid form, because it is an extract that is produced during the chocolate-making process. Manufacturers then add various ingredients to this pure extract to give the chocolate its taste, smell and strength, and it is these ingredients that determine how good and healthy a bar of chocolate will be.

The ingredients that make a quality and healthy chocolate bar

The most important ingredients in chocolate are cocoa mass and cocoa butter. Dark chocolate is better quality if it contains more cocoa mass. Some argue that only chocolate containing more than 75% cocoa mass is true dark chocolate. Others argue that dark chocolate is dark chocolate if it contains only 50% cocoa solids. It is up to you which division you choose, but when choosing your chocolate, go for the one with the highest percentage of cocoa, as this is healthier. The quality of the cocoa itself is certainly important, but this is out of our control as buyers.

However, it is good to know that the best and most expensive cocoa is produced on plantations in Latin America.

Cocoa butter is another important ingredient that contributes to the higher quality of dark chocolate. Chocolate manufacturers produce cocoa butter from cocoa beans, which can be time-consuming. For this reason, cocoa butter is often substituted for regular butter in lower quality chocolates. Ordinary butter has more saturated fat, which is not the healthiest, and the chocolate itself tastes like butter.

Many customers are very keen on dark chocolate with additives. For example, dark chocolate with orange, strawberry and other fruit pieces can be found on the shelves. With good quality dark chocolate, all the additives will be natural and fresh. It is often the case that, in order to reduce the cost of production, a retailer will add artificial flavour enhancers to the chocolate, which does not make it a higher quality chocolate.

All chocolate ingredients must be written on the packaging

However, sometimes it is difficult to tell from what is written what the ratio of ingredients is, and sometimes the ratio is not written anywhere. That''s why dark chocolate connoisseurs know a trick that easily tells them whether they are eating real, pure chocolate or chocolate with added animal or vegetable fats.

If the chocolate contains animal or vegetable fats and large amounts of sugar, you will be left with a lumpy feeling in your mouth when you put the chocolate in your mouth. It feels as if you have fine sand in your mouth, which then slowly dissolves. You won''t get that feeling with real, good quality dark chocolate. Quality dark chocolate contains less than 3g/100g of fat and much more real cocoa mass.

Don''t buy low-quality dark chocolates

It''s easy to come home from the shops with poor-quality dark chocolate, because the choice on the shelves is overwhelming. So take the time to read what the chocolate says on the wrapper next time you buy. Look at what is in the chocolate and if it contains a high proportion of fat or artificial flavour enhancers, put it back on the shelf. If possible, taste the chocolate and then decide which dark chocolate suits you best. Because buying a good quality dark chocolate, even if it may be a little more expensive, will pay off as your body will take much better to pieces of good quality dark chocolate than poor quality.