EEC Council has approved amendments to the technical regulation “Safety of Food Products” (TR CU 021/2011).
Updated TR CU provides new requirements for chocolate and chocolate products:
- Chocolate should not contain plant-based fats except for:
- cocoa butter
- cocoa butter equivalents and/or cocoa butter improvers of SOS-type (no more than 5%)
- Chocolate should only contain dairy fat as animal fat.
- Ingredients that are not cocoa-based should not exceed 40% of the chocolate mass (with the exception of sweeteners and additional ingredients such as nuts, peanuts, dried fruits etc.)
- Chocolate should not contain flavorings that imitate the taste or smell of cocoa products.
- Milk chocolate and white chocolate should not contain flavorings that imitate the taste or smell of dairy.
New amendments also establish the amount of cocoa powder and cocoa butter required to identify products as different types of chocolate (bitter, dark, milk etc.)
EEC Board’s Decision No. 173 that establishes new requirements will be in force June 2023.