Low Sugar Chocolate?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brad Payton on June 7, 2011 at 5:28pm

Have you thought of creating product from liquor/100% cacao  that way you would have control of how you sweeten the product.

Permalink Reply by Wendy Buckner on June 7, 2011 at 7:36pm

Hey Andy, We have that request frequently.  We source our chocolate too.  My good friend that works with me is a diabetic and she is in great health.  She tells these customers that they should stick to dark chocolate...the darker the better and just limit themselves.  She tells me that diabetic people know their limits and CAN have sugar...they should know their limits.  I have actually purchased a couple of sugar free panned items from another company to resell...they were high quality...and unfortunately did not sell very well at all.  It seemed that everything I stocked, they requested something different..so I have officially given up until I can come up with another option.  I know it is frustrating.  For now I just offer dark chocolates to them....(then they ask for milk or white.)  **SIGHHhhhhh**

Permalink Reply by Dale Anderson on June 7, 2011 at 10:09pm

Andy,

I've had much the same experience as Wendy (along with trying to satisfy those customers seeking vegan, lactose free, soy free and gluten free items [by the way...why do people think chocolate contains gluten?). I mostly direct diabetics to high cocoa content pieces (and small samplings). I am specializing in organic truffles, and so have not explored the various artificial sweeteners on the market. I have had some success with 100% chocolate liquor sweetened with agave syrup, although it takes a LOT of (expensive) syrup to make it palatable to most customers. The mouthfeel of these pieces is also a fair bit grainier (almost leaves a dry cocoa powder residue on the palate). I’m not sure whether the sugar adds to the smoother texture (and is lacking in the agave), or if the 100% chocolate has not been conched as long as a variety with sugar, vanilla, etc. blended in. I’ve tried dried stevia powder, with no success yet. If you have a breakthrough, let me know.

Dale

Permalink Reply by john on September 18, 2012 at 5:52pm

hello i know some people cant eat regular chocolate but would raw chocolate nibs work 

and a wee bit of diluted juice from cane sugar just a thought

Permalink Reply by Andy Ciordia on June 9, 2011 at 9:31am

Brad & Dale, I have not thought at all down that line.  It would seem a lot more labor to go that route and if you're right Dale then the outcome is a bit iffy anyways.  

 

I'm rather surprised no manufacturer or small scale artisan has come up with an alternate sugar couverture.  There has to be a market for it.

 

Wendy, the smart diabetics I've met know what you say--don't be a glutton or you'll find yourself in trouble.  The less savy diabetics argue me on this point.. It's not my place to tell people how to manage their disease I just try to allocate the old moderation adages.  Unfortunately it seems with dieters they are binary, on or off.  They want to keep us at bay more because they'll probably cave to a larger impulse than be able to slowly go through a box.

 

For vegan chocolates just go coconut cream--that's solved the diary issue.

 

Dale, about gluten, we have a huge celiac community outreach here and we were educated that many of the industrial or large scale chocolate producers have now subbed out 20% of chocolate for oat flour.  They say you can't taste it but if you do a comparison it's easily--dustily--noticeable.  Even the EU has now allowed this modification to usurp their purity laws.

 

Well interesting.. I thought I'd get a few names I hadn't heard of and now I'm set back with what we do, or doing more labor for a gain that might not be a gain at all.. ho hum.. maybe I'll work on some marketing posters about moderation and balance.

Permalink Reply by cheebs on June 9, 2011 at 5:38pm

Why don't you contact a few of the artisan producers to see if one of them would actually make that chocolate for you?  I do make very small quantities of a sugar free (sucralose, isomalt and acesulfame-k sweetened) couverture.  It's VERY expensive to make because of the price of the sweeteners, but tastes very close to a sugar-based chocolate. 

 

Maybe someone in the US could make this for you, with my (or any other) formulation? 

Permalink Reply by beth campbell on May 30, 2012 at 12:09am

I am making chocolates using xylitol, which is sugar from birch trees.  It is low glycemic and okay for diabetics, as well as being good for your teeth.  I make the chocolates in B.C. Canada, and am just starting out my business.  I also make them with coconut sugar, which is also low glycemic. I am successfully making very palatable chocolates with no refined sugars, which is actually all together better chocolate..  You don't get the up and downs from sugar and you can enjoy the health benefits of the cacao bean.  

Permalink Reply by Dale Anderson on June 22, 2011 at 10:12pm

Andy,

I've not seen any information anywhere about the oat flour in chocolate substitution. I have talked to friends who work in product development at Mars and Hershey’s who say that this is ridiculous. I want to be able to give accurate information to my customers who are concerned about gluten and additives. Would you forward a link to more information about this? Also, for what it's worth, oats don't contain gluten, so unless the flour is contaminated with significant quantities of wheat, barley, or rye it shouldn't be a problem for celiacs (although, I'm sure, would make lousy chocolate).

Thanks,

Dale

Permalink Reply by Tatiana Larionova on June 21, 2012 at 9:43am

Andy,

I was at the Fancy Foods Show in DC this past Monday, a few brands out there now make chocolate with Stevia - a natural plant sweetener, and to my surprise - the taste was great! That's an idea.

Permalink Reply by Andy Ciordia on June 21, 2012 at 11:22am

Do you recall their names Tatiana?

Permalink Reply by Tatiana Larionova on June 21, 2012 at 11:27am

Andy, I have them all at home, will send them to your when get there, around 6 pm EST

Permalink Reply by Andy Ciordia on June 21, 2012 at 5:18pm

Thanks for your efforts.  That'd be remarkable to have the option without sacrifice in quality.

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