Welcome to Sugar Free Zone, Australia's first & finest retailer dedicated solely to sugar free indulgence.
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At Sugar Free Zone, we get asked a lot of questions about chocolate! So we're hoping this page will answer most of them. |
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All of our chocolate is classified as either Sugar Free or No Added Sugar, but we then have either Sweetened or Unsweetened varieties. It may sound a little confusing, but firstly, let's look at the term Sugar Free. In Australia (unlike some other countries), sugar free basically means no sugar whatsoever. No Added Sugar is the term that must be used for products that have been manufactured without adding sugar, but whose ingredients may contain natural sugars. A good example of how these terms apply can be found in the difference in makeup of Dark & Milk Chocolate. But first, let's find out more about Chocolate. | |
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What's is chocolate?
Chocolate is made from the kernels of cocoa beans which are ground to form a
paste called chocolate liquor. This chocolate liquor is hardened into molds
to form baking chocolate (bitter chocolate). Cocoa butter is the vegetable fat component of chocolate.
Cocoa powder is formed by pressing out the cocoa butter from the liquor and
crushing it. Sweet chocolate, used for eating, is formed by mixing sugar and
additional cocoa butter to the chocolate liquor. Adding milk concentrates to
sweet chocolate results in Milk Chocolate.
Dark chocolate, typically contains around 55% cocoa and has no milk, and therefore no lactose, a natural sugar found in milk. Most dark chocolate in our store can therefore be labelled as sugar free. Milk chocolate on the other hand typically contains around 37% cocoa, and around 24% milk. Because milk contains lactose, any milk chocolate must contain some sugar, even though no sugar has been added during manufacturing. Incidentally, White Chocolate isn't really chocolate at all! Typically, it is a blend of cocoa butter, milk, sugar, and other flavors, but does not contain any actual chocolate solids. So although white, it is barely chocolate. Couverture chocolate contains a minimum of 32% cocoa butter, and is the preferred choice of chocolatiers and chefs because it melts smoothly and is glossy. It is often used for chocolate covered fruits, or in chocolate fountains. Gianduja, also called gianduia, is a classic north Italian chocolate. It's similar to praline but, where that traditional French sweet is based on a paste of almonds and sugar, gianduja is made with hazelnuts. It's also incredibly smooth - the best gianduja is like silk in the mouth. This nutty chocolate is a true regional speciality. It was created by Italian chocolatiers in the 19th century as an emergency measure during a period when cocoa beans were scarce. A paste of Piedmont hazelnuts, used to "dilute" their normal chocolate, was an enormous success and, to this day, true gianduja uses only hazelnuts grown in the region. So what's the difference between sweetened and unsweetened chocolate? Our higher quality chocolates (mostly of European origin) are all sweetened with Maltitol in place of sugar (sucrose). Maltitol is a natural sweetener made by the hydrogenation of maltose, which is obtained from starch. Maltitol is often used to replace sugar in the manufacture of sugar free foods, but it is a perfect sweetener in chocolate, as it gives a creamy texture to food. Most importantly, chocolate made with Maltitol tastes like normal sweet chocolate. On the down side, Maltitol is not readily absorbed into the bloodstream, meaning it can cause laxative effects if consumed in excess. Maltitol sweetened chocolate is also more expensive than unsweetened chocolate. We also stock a range of unsweetened chocolate products, including carob & yoghurt products. These have no added sugar or sweetener of any type. For some people, particularly long time Diabetics who have lost their sweet tooth, unsweetened chocolate tastes fine, but for the chocolate connoisseur, unsweetened chocolate will probably taste a little bland, similar to baking or bitter chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate is generally much less expensive than its Maltitol sweetened alternative. It is cheaper to make without sweeteners, and because it is manufactured locally, the costs of importation, fuel surcharges and the low Aussie dollar are not a factor. It's also great to support locally made produce wherever possible, but unfortunately there are very few Australian manufacturers using Maltitol. Just to confuse the issue further, consider lactose and saturated fats. Because of its creamy texture, Maltitol can also act as a fat replacer. The number one ingredient in Maltitol sweetened chocolate is Maltitol. Despite containing whole milk solids and cocoa butter, a typical high quality Maltitol sweetened milk chocolate block contains around 21.6% saturated fat. Unsweetened chocolate, whose number one ingredient is low-fat milk solids (and also contains palm kernel oil) will typically contain 32% saturated fat. Because of its higher milk content, unsweetened chocolate also contains more lactose - up to 37%, compared to only 7.5% lactose in Maltitol sweetened chocolate. Has this confused you even more? Below is a summary of the Pros and Cons: | ||||||||||||||||
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Tastes the same as normal chocolate (or better)
Can taste a little bland, or even bitter