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At Cocoa Loco, we pride ourselves on only creating gorgeous natural chocolate, free from ultra-processed foods and ingredients. We avoid flavour enhancers, emulsifiers and other preservatives to ensure that the chocolate you’ll receive from us is as naturally tasty as possible.
What makes some chocolate ultra-processed?
Wondering how you can tell between ultra processed and non-ultra processed chocolate? See which types of ingredients you could try and avoid when looking for UPF-free chocolate.
Soya Lecithins
Soy Lecithin is a phospholipid (or rather, a fat), which is used mainly to lower chocolate’s viscosity, in order to make the chocolate more mouldable. It’s derived from soy beans and is extracted from the sludge that is left after the soy oil undergoes a degumming process. Soy Lecithin also improves the shelf life of a chocolate product, increases its profitability, and improves sugar crystallisation (The Chocolate Journalist, 2018).
Other Emulsifiers
Emulsifiers are regularly used to bind two types of food together that wouldn’t normally mix, for example oil and water. (Low, 2022)
E-numbers
E-numbers in the ingredients list of your favourite chocolate bar replace the chemical or common name of particular food additives. These are used to enhance flavour, colour, texture or increase the product's shelf life. Below are some examples of what the different numbers may mean:
E600-699: Flavour enhancers
E100-199: Colouring
E500-599: Acidity regulators
(Coughlan and Snelson, 2017).
Palm oil
Another ingredient that you may come across when shopping for chocolate is palm oil. While this particular ingredient doesn’t necessarily contribute to a product being ultra processed, it is nevertheless evident in many types of ultra processed foods, including chocolate (Blakey, 2023).
The chocolates you can find on our website are made only using natural ingredients, with zero emulsifiers, palm oil, e-numbers or flavour enhancers. This means that you can eat our chocolates knowing that they're all UPF-free!
Want to treat yourself to some UPF free chocolates with only natural ingredients? Explore our range today to begin your UPF free journey!
References
Blakey, V., 2023. ‘Op-Ed: Should We Avoid Palm Oil?’, Earth.org. 1st November. Available at: https://earth.org/should-we-avoid-palm-oil/ (Accessed 15th May 2024).
Coughlan, M. and Snelson, M., 2017. ‘Explainer: what are E numbers and should you avoid them in your diet?’. The Conversation. 5th October. Available at: https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-are-e-numbers-and-should-you-avoid-them-in-your-diet-43908 (Accessed: 15th May 2024).
Dixon, R., 2023. ‘Ultra-processed foods: the 19 things everyone needs to know’, The Guardian. 6th September. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/sep/06/ultra-processed-foods-the-19-things-everyone-needs-to-know (Accessed: 9th May 2024).
Low, S., 2022. ‘Emulsifiers: should we be avoiding them?’, BBC Food. November. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/emulsifiers (Accessed: 15th May 2024).
Manson, J. 2023. ‘Inherently violent: Regulate ultra-processed foods before they consign another generation to chronic ill-health – van Tulleken’, Natural Newsdesk. 22nd June. Available at: https://naturalnewsdesk.co.uk/2023/06/22/inherently-violent-regulate-ultra-processed-foods-before-they-consign-another-generation-to-chronic-ill-health-van-tulleken/ (Accessed: 15th May 2024).
The Chocolate Journalist, 2018. ‘Soy Lecithin In Chocolate: Why Is It So Controversial?’, The Chocolate Journalist. 9th October. Available at: https://www.thechocolatejournalist.com/blog/soy-lecithin-chocolate (Accessed: 15th May 2024).