Chocolate ingredients

Legumes, cereals, seeds, nuts, spices, fruits, and meat Hazelnut, chocolates, snacks, muesli Food and food ingredients Chocolate... 

The food flavor industry is the largest user of vanillin, an indispensable ingredient in chocolate, candy, bakery products, and ice cream. Commercial vanilla extracts are made by macerating one part of vanilla beans with ten parts of 40—50% alcohol. Although vanillin is the primary active ingredient of vanilla beans, the full flavor of vanilla extract is the result of the presence of not only vanillin but also other ingredients, especially Httle-known resinous materials which contribute greatly to the quaUty of the flavor. 

The cocoa bean is the basic raw ingredient in the manufacture of all cocoa products. The beans are converted to chocolate Hquor, the primary ingredient from which all chocolate and cocoa products are made. Eigure 1 depicts the conversion of cocoa beans to chocolate Hquor, and in turn to the chief chocolate and cocoa products manufactured in the United States, ie, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and sweet and milk chocolate. 

Cocoa powder production today is an important part of the cocoa and chocolate industry because of increased consumption of chocolate-flavored products. Cocoa powder is the basic flavoring ingredient in most chocolate-flavored cookies, biscuits, symps, cakes, and ice cream. It is also used extensively in the production of confectionery coatings for candy bars. 

Cocoa butter is the common name given to the fat obtained by subjecting chocolate Hquor to hydrauHc pressure. It is the main carrier and suspending medium for cocoa particles in chocolate Hquor and for sugar and other ingredients in sweet and milk chocolate. 

Cocoa butter substitutes of all types enjoy widespread use ia the United States chiefly as ingredients ia chocolate-flavored products. Cocoa butter equivalents are not widely used because of their higher price and limited supply. 

Most chocolate consumed in the United States is consumed in the form of milk chocolate and sweet chocolate. Sweet chocolate is chocolate Hquor to which sugar and cocoa butter have been added. Milk chocolate contains these same ingredients and milk or milk soHds (Eig. 2). 

Sweet chocolate can contain milk or milk soHds (up to 12% max), nuts, coffee, honey, malt, salt, vanillin, and other spices and flavors as well as a number of specified emulsifiers. Many different kiads of chocolate can be produced by careful selection of bean blends, controlled roasting temperatures, and varying amounts of ingredients and flavors (20). 

The amount of lecithin required falls within a narrow range of about 0.2—0.6% (27). It can have a substantial effect on the amount of cocoa butter used, reducing the final fat content of chocolate by as much as 5%. Because cocoa butter is usually the most costly ingredient in the formulation of chocolate, the savings to a large manufacturer can be substantial. 

Shake the ingredients vigorously in a bartender s glass with ice. Strain into a large chilled martini glass (at least 9 ounces). Garnish with shaved chocolate. 

Fats are food. But apart from their nutritive value they are also used as ingredients to modify other foods. Flaky piecrusts, smooth ice cream, and melt-in-your-mouth chocolates owe their properties to the unique characteristics of fats and oils. 

Theobromine is related to caffeine, but it has different effects in the body and brain. It is the mood-enhancing drug in chocolate. It is also the ingredient in chocolate that is toxic to dogs. 

Consumption of sweet chocolate in the U.S. is low. The majority of chocolate consumed is milk chocolate produced from chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids. Because most milk chocolate produced in the U.S. contains 10 to 12% chocolate liquor, differences in methylxanthine content among commercial milk chocolate are due more to the varieties and blends of cocoa bean (Table 9). Based on analytical data from seven brands of commercial milk chocolate, a typical 40-g milk chocolate bar contains approximately 65 mg theobromine and less than 10 mg caffeine.28 Milk chocolate bars containing other ingredients, such as peanuts, almonds, and confectionery fillings, obviously contain less methylxanthines. In a survey of 49 marketed chocolate and confectionery products, theobromine concentrations ranged from 0.001 to 2.598% and caffeine content from 0.001 to 0.247%.33... 

Annex II lists foodstuffs for which only certain of the annex I additives may be used. Such foodstuffs include cocoa products and chocolate products, fruit juices and nectars, jam, jellies and marmalades and partially dehydrated and dehydrated milk, which are the subjects of EU vertical standards, and a number of other foods including frozen unprocessed fmit and vegetables, quick-cook rice, non-emulsified oils and fats, canned and bottled fruit and vegetables, bread made with basic ingredients only, fresh pasta and beer. 

Some people prefer dark chocolate. Others go for the gooey chocolate-covered cherries. Many don t care for coconut in their sweets. And most people are happy with any mixture of any kind. Different kinds of candies have different prices, depending on the ingredients. When you combine different candies in packages, the quality or price of each type is multiplied by the quantity or weight to determine the price of the mixture. 

The most popular flavored milk or milk drink in the United States is chocolate milk or chocolate lowfat milk. Typically, chocolate milk contains about 1% cocoa, 6% sucrose, and 0.2% stabilizer such as vegetable gum, vanilla, and salt, all added to whole milk. Particular attention must be given to stabilizing the chocolate flavoring ingredients against sedimentation. 

Lactose is a major contributor to the acceptability of milk as a beverage, and variations of 0.33% lactose are readily detected by taste test (Higgins and Lorimer 1982). Lactose may not be present at optimum levels, however, so that supplementation of milk products such as buttermilk or chocolate drinks effectively improves their acceptance, apparent richness, and smoothness. Consequently, lactose is included as an optional ingredient in standards of identity of such foods. 

Ice cream is manufactured by rapidly freezing and simultaneously whipping an approximately equal volume of air into the formulated mix (Berger, 1976 Keeney and Kroger, 1974). Ice cream mix contains a minimum of 10% milk fat and 20% total milk solids, except when chocolate, fruit or nuts, are added. In addition to milk solids, ice cream mix normally contains 10-15% sucrose, 5-7% corn sweetener, 0.2-0.3% stabilizer gum, <0.1% emulsifier, and small amounts of natural or artificial color and flavor ingredients. 

The type (e.g., liquid, solid, powder, gel, syrup, emulsion, granule) and range of food samples (raw ingredients to final products) for water activity measurement are immense. The amount of sample required for measurement is typically 5 to 10 ml. A homogeneous and representative sample should be prepared and placed into the sample cup. For the majority of samples, no preparation is necessary the sample is simply placed into the cup. Multicomponent (e.g., muffin with raisins or pizza) and coated samples (e.g., breaded foods or chocolate-covered bar) may have to be sliced, crushed, or ground in order to obtain a representative sample. If sample preparation is necessary, then a consistent technique must be used with each sample to ensure reproducible results. 

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