Cadbury responds to rumours Dairy Milk ‘doesn’t meet the criteria’ to be called chocolate

We all love indulging in a bit of drama from time to time – especially if chocolate is involved. But at risk of spoiling the fun, we’re here to let you know the latest Cadbury conspiracy is little more than an urban legend.

After recent Metro articles mentioned the brand, we received a flurry of reader emails claiming Dairy Milk doesn’t have enough cocoa solids to be called chocolate, and it’s ‘going against trading standards’ to do so.

It’s a rumour doing the rounds on social media too, with numerous posts on Facebook and Reddit saying its cocoa content has been reduced to the point ‘it doesn’t meet the criteria’ and ‘is no longer allowed’ to be referred to as chocolate.

Unfortunately for the gossip train though, this is simply not true, with the word featuring on the flagship product’s packaging and marketing materials alike.

The misconception seems to stem from the fact EU regulation requires milk chocolate to have at least 25% cocoa solids, meaning Dairy Milk – which has 25% – can only be sold on the continent if it’s labelled ‘family milk chocolate.’

Here in the UK however, the Cocoa and Chocolate Products Regulations 2003 stipulates a lower minimum of 20% cocoa solids, so it’s just within the rules (and well above the US’s 10% requirement).

‘Our chocolate meets all relevant standards required by UK and EU legislation, and we provide clear information to consumers on pack so that they can make informed decisions about what they eat,’ a spokesperson from Cadbury parent company Mondelēz International tells Metro.

McVitie’s Penguin and Club bars, along with KitKat White and McVitie’s White Digestives, were recently forced to rebrand as ‘chocolate-flavoured’ due to recipe changes that took them below the threshold.

But contrary to popular belief, no such change has taken place at Cadbury.

‘The cocoa content in our Cadbury Dairy Milk products has not changed for years, and they continue to be made with the same delicious recipes that consumers know and love,’ the manufacturer confirmed in its statement.

Although Mondelēz, which bought the brand in 2010, sells Cadbury products across 33 countries, those sold in the UK should all adhere to the same regulations (and therefore recipes).

But there’s a growing cadre of chocolate fans who believe quality differs between those made at the firm’s flagship factory, Bournville, and elsewhere.

They’ve even worked out a way to check.

As mentioned, there’s no evidence to suggest country of manufacture impacts flavour, but if you do want to work out where your treat hails from, look at the box near the barcode on the back of the wrapper.

Underneath the best before date you should see three letters followed by a series of numbers – and if the code starts with OBO, it’s British-made.

Cadbury aside, most big-name bars sold here conform to EU standards on cocoa, with percentages for the likes of Galaxy and Yorkie at the 25% mark, a figure which climbs as high as 37% for upmarket manufacturers like Green & Black’s.

When it comes to supermarket own-brands, the milk chocolate offerings from Sainsbury’s and Tesco both contain 31% minimum cocoa solids, while Asda advertises a 27% minimum for its bars and M&S has options ranging from 35% to 38%.

What you prefer is really a matter of taste, with Stephen Beckett, editor of Beckett’s Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use, explaining: ‘There is no such thing as the ideal flavour, as what is pleasant to one person may be unacceptable to another.

‘For those of us who find pleasure in a particular type of chocolate that others find unpalatable, it is something to relish: it means there is more for us to enjoy.’

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