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Have you ever heard of a cocoa fruit bar?

The strange word creation applies to a chocolate that should not be called as the manufacturer Ritter Sport complains.

German food law prohibits this in the case.

And not because there is too little cocoa in the product - but too much.

"One hundred percent," to be precise, as Ritter adds.

Even sugar is not used for sweetening, but cocoa juice.

That is exactly the problem.

According to the regulations in force in Germany, chocolate without sugar is not defined as chocolate.

However, Ritter only uses the juice of the cocoa pod to sweeten the new variety - and is therefore not allowed to call the bars chocolate.

"That is absurd," says Ritter Sport boss Andreas Ronken.

In fact, the juice of the cocoa pod has only been allowed as a food in the EU for about a year.

The so-called Novel Food Ordinance, which permits a whole range of foods, including products made from exotic plants, new fat substitutes and additives consisting of microorganisms, fungi or algae, is decisive for this.

Only 2300 bars of the non-chocolate

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The cocoa regulation, which is almost 20 years old, insists that chocolate must contain “types of sugar”.

There are numerous types of chocolate available in stores and online that are called “sugar-free chocolate”.

If you take a closer look at their recipes, however, they usually contained sugar substitutes that would allow them to be labeled as chocolate within the meaning of the ordinance, explained food lawyer Katharina Gitmann-Kopilevich from the Horak Rechtsanwälte law firm.

The new Ritter Sport variety under the name “Cacao y Nada” (“Cocoa and nothing else”) will not be found in supermarkets for the time being; in terms of price, it is more of a case for chocolate gourmets.

From the beginning of February, the square bar, which weighs only 57 grams instead of the usual 100 grams, will only be offered in the company's own shop at the company's headquarters in Waldenbuch and in the online shop.

Because it can't be called chocolate, Ritter Sport calls its new product "Cacao y Nada"

Source: Ritter Sport

"But only while stocks last," Ritter stressed the shortage argument.

Because the juice obtained on a company's own cocoa plantation in Central America is only enough for 2,300 tablets, for which lover prices are called for at 4.99 euros each.

“A full market entry is planned in the medium term,” assures the company.

Lemonade can also have too little sugar

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Food law is a complex legal field, sometimes with confusing consequences for consumers.

Last autumn, for example, the Hamburg food supervisory authority argued with a beverage manufacturer about whether its product could be called "lemonade".

In the opinion of the authorities, the shower did not contain enough sugar to bear the name.

The oat drink manufacturer Oatly, on the other hand, has started a campaign to stop the EU Council of Ministers' planned approval of the more restrictive naming of plant-based milk alternatives.

According to this, the existing packaging and marketing guidelines are misleading for consumers.

Any reference to dairy products should therefore be prohibited in the case of plant-based alternative products, including expressions such as “free of milk” or “creamy taste”.

In a survey that the Swedish oat drink manufacturer carried out together with GfK in Germany, only five percent of those surveyed said they had already bought a vegan product by mistake, and only half of them would have bothered them, argues Oatly.

Ritter boss Ronken also called for a faster adjustment of food law to new products.

"If sausage can be made from peas, chocolate doesn't need sugar," he said.

Only Ritter Sport chocolate can be square

The Federal Court of Justice has ruled that only Ritter Sport can sell its chocolate in square packaging.

Competitor Mondelez has been trying for years to have the registered trademark deleted.

Source: WORLD