Now that Valentine's is only a few days away, couples everywhere are thinking of giving their loved ones chocolates and other types of sweets; however, the latest FDA dark chocolate standards state that it might be time to be a bit more cautious on the subject, as many of these chocolates might prove dangerous for people with allergies.
The reason so many people end up preferring the more bitter dark chocolate over its sweeter version with milk is that there's a high percentage of people that are intolerant to lactose or even allergic to milk, and it could have serious consequences to consume this type of sweet - and the it seems like many of them don't seem to score high on the FDA dark chocolate standards.
According to Yahoo! News, a recent statement regarding FDA dark chocolate standards states that some of these chocolates don't really fulfill their promise of being milk-free, after the Food and Drug Administration tested more than 100 bars of dark chocolate and found they weren't keeping things the way they advertised.
Consumerist reports that, due to the fact that milk is one of the eight major food allergens, legislation in the United States and FDA dark chocolate standards require labels to state when a product contains milk, to prevent possible issues with those who are allergic to it - as there are people whose bodies react badly to even a single bite of it.
This doesn't mean that manufacturers mean to endanger their customers, but perhaps that the same machines that are used in processing dark chocolate are also used for the companies' products with milk, which would leave traces in the machinery.
"Consumers can also inform FDA about undeclared allergens by contacting the agency's consumer complaint coordinator for your state or by reporting food-allergic reactions online," says the FDA dark chocolate standards statement recently published on their website. "FDA then can follow up with any necessary inspections and testing. Alerted to a labeling problem, many firms recall such food products and correct labeling statements voluntarily. In addition, FDA conducts studies and performs research to develop and improve methods of detecting food allergens to help protect consumers."
