Chocolate is one of the most popular sweets on the market – and is even said to put you in a good mood. However, tests by Stiftung Warentest, Öko-Test and others show that there are many ingredients in chocolate that make you lose your appetite.
Chocolate not only tastes really good, for many people, enjoying chocolate also puts them in a good mood. One of the reasons: Chocolate contains, among other things, tryptophan – and the breakdown of this substance produces serotonin, which is also known as the “happiness hormone”.
However, it has not yet been conclusively clarified which substances work together in which way and which reactions they actually cause in the body. Some scientists also assume that it is the mix of taste, smell and texture that makes chocolate so enticing.
However, what has been examined several times are the ingredients that are in the usual supermarket and discounter chocolate. And sometimes they are frightening.
Chocolate test at Öko-Test
Öko-Test, for example, recently sent 25 milk chocolates to the laboratory in issue 12/2019 and examined them for critical ingredients. The result: only two of the 25 chocolates received an Öko-Test recommendation. The reason is, among other things, mineral oil components that could be detected in 24 chocolates.
In addition, cocoa is grown under dire circumstances. Öko-Test therefore asked the chocolate manufacturers about the supply chain. However, 22 manufacturers refused to disclose this.
The only two types of chocolate rated “good” are “Rapunzel dark whole milk” and “Ritter Sport alpine milk“.
The test is older, but anyone who now believes that the manufacturers have made improvements should scale back their hopes: Öko-Test not only tested chocolate in 2019, but also in 2017. The result was similarly devastating.
You can find more about the Öko-Test chocolate test in our comprehensive report.
See Rapunzel chocolate on Amazon
Chocolate test at Stiftung Warentest
But not only Öko-Test checks chocolate from time to time, Stiftung Warentest also recently sent chocolate to the laboratory for issue 12/2018. However, Stiftung Warentest does not judge chocolate quite so harshly. Of the 25 types of chocolate tested, 15 scored “good”, 9 “satisfactory” and only one “sufficient”.
best cuts”The Good Chocolate“. Second place was shared by “Marabou Mjölk Choklad King Size”, “Merci Edel-Rahm Milk Chocolate” and “Milka Alpenmilch”. Stiftung Warentest also found pollutants, but did not classify the concentration as critical. Even those with the heavy metal Chocolate contaminated with nickel still receives a “sufficient” on the grounds that the amount per bar of chocolate is harmless.
You can find out more details in our comprehensive report on the test by Stiftung Warentest.
Watch the Good Chocolate on Amazon
Chocolate test with consumer (Austria)
The Austrian equivalent of Stiftung Warentest is the magazine Verbraucher (Association for Consumer Information (VKI)). The magazine recently tested 20 dark chocolates for the 11/2016 issue. The result is similar here too: 9 varieties received the grade “good”, 4 cut off “average”, two “less satisfactory” and 5 “unsatisfactory”.
the sort”GEPA Tender Bitters 70%” ranks first overall. Second is “Alnatura Feine Bitter” and third is “Lindt Excellence Mild 70%”.
“Merci Edelbitter 72%”, “Berger Edelbitter” and “Coceur 75% Cacao” did very poorly. Here too, mineral oil residues and traces of aluminum and cadmium were problematic.
Not a single chocolate in the test was really free of harmful substances. Consumers also point out the critical trade.
View GEPA Tender Bitters 70% at Amazon