david.upchurch

I would like to join too! This will be my first time joining the gang.

Please take that offer.

good to know! thanks much. I have just ordered some samples so I will keep this mind.

VistaGardens, I appreciate hearing experience with Pur. thanks! I am looking into Chef Rubber Naturals and the Quebec-made product offered by ChocoaltChocolat.

I just saw this post. Are these still for sale? thanks

I am really enjoying it. Concurrently I am reading several books on the industry. The podcast gets right into the nitty- gritty of issues and has interesting guest interviews. The books can provide more detail of course but the podcast does a good job.

Hello All, Your thoughts are much appreciated. To an earlier point, yes I am looking for alternatives to dyes and pigments. Mila’s work is great and like some of you and Recchiuti, use limited colors and rely on other types of chocolate for color. I find that customers respond really well to color, it’s exciting. Majority of my customers are still unfamiliar with rainbow- bright shells. Many chocolatier that I see, including my colleagues, do not list all ingredients in their colors. This is the turning point for me, required by my inspector. If I list all these additives my label becomes huge and it becomes a turn- off for customers. I will look at the threads and products mentioned. Thanks again

The inspector is with CA Health Dept and approves my labeling and methods. Good thought on the blanket statement, there are 7 Dyes and assorted Lakes and titanium dioxide, so I could make a generic statement including all of that. That does seem at odds with high quality direct-trade chocolate and the ethos we hope to uphold. Thanks for your thoughts.

Hello All, I am researching colorants for cacao butter with an eye toward 'natural' vegetal derived colorants. My local packaging inspector ( California ) has required me to list ALL FDA approved artificial dyes and pigments, FD&C, Lakes, on my labels. These are equivalent to EU approved artificial colors as E102 to E143, as I understand it. Is anyone else tackling this issue? Per labeling, this is a substantial amount of information as one multi-hued collection can have 6+ colors. Other chocolatiers I have noticed use blanket statements such as 'FDA approved colors' or 'Cocoa Butter with Colors'. I am hearing hints that the EU may impose stricter regulations on artificial colors. Some of these, Lakes for instance, seem very dodgy as they are based on metal (Aluminum) salts to disperse the dyes. Pur is one company that I have found that produces colorants from natural sources on an industrial scale. Their cacao butters include other additives so I am really interested in how well they spray and perform. Anyone have experience using these? Shelf life, color fastness, flavors in the colorants, all these are points of interest. Thank very much.