Sunday, April 22, 2007

Don't Mess with Our Chocolate

I LOVE CHOCOLATE!
However, sigh!

The U.S. Chocolate Industry, through its Chocolate Manufacturers of America (CMA), and in collaboration with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, have petitioned the Food and Drug Association (FDA) to change the current requirements for chocolate.

If the U.S. Chocolate Industry have their way, it will negatively change the quality of chocolate you love. Their plan is to change the basic formula of chocolate in order to use vegetable fat substitutes in place of cocoa butter, and to use milk substitutes in the place of nutritionally superior milk. These changes will have adverse effects on the eating, physical and nutritional quality of chocolate, and beg the question: What consumer benefit is associated with implementing these changes? The answer is none.

To date, the FDA has only heard from the chocolate industry. But, the FDA absolutely must hear from those consumers who love the current gold standard of chocolate so that the FDA can have a more balanced viewpoint. If the Chocolate Manufacturer's Association succeeds with their agenda, the consumer will inherit what is most lucrative for them to produce rather than the high quality product we all currently enjoy and desire.

Please communicate your dissatisfaction regarding the cheapening the quality of real chocolate to the FDA by going to "How to Help" on the Don't Mess with Our Chocolate site. Your opinion is important and needs to be heard along with the collective outrage from other consumers. We hope this effort will have a favorable impact on the FDAs decision-making process and will cause it to reject the industry's proposal.

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