Colored Cocoa Butter: The Topic

[CaitlynA]

 

 

Hello All,

I'm hoping someone can help. It may be hard to tell in the photos, but there are white specs in the colored cocoa butter (not on purpose). I use Chef Rubber and I find that it happens with all of my colors. I haven't used white in my spray gun in ages. Everything is in temper, releases well from the molds, has a nice shine, it just isn't an even, solid color. Oddly enough, if you look at the single blue bon bon when I was adding more cocoa butter to my spray gun I accidentally dripped in the mold and I sprayed over it. That drip has turned out solid in color with no speckles. 

 

I'm thinking it must be something with the way I'm spraying. Has anyone come across this issue or know how to prevent it? 

 

Much appreciated,

Caitlyn 

[Kerry Beal]

Weird - probably a stupid question but are the colors the classic or one of the Jewel or other colors that have inclusions?

 

 

[CaitlynA]

On 10/30/2022 at 5:01 AM, Kerry Beal said:

Weird - probably a stupid question but are the colors the classic or one of the Jewel or other colors that have inclusions?

 

 

@Kerry BealI'm sorry, I'm just now seeing this! The colors are from the artisan collection. When I pour the cocoa butter into my spray gun there aren't any noticeable specks. Even from the back side, before I make the shell I don't notice anything unusual.

[Saltychoc]

I'm not really sure where this belongs - I'm trying to attempt a new technique and I need a cocoa butter that is not as opaque. If that even exists. I'm currently using cocoa barry and it has a very yellow finish. Any recommendations for a cocoa butter that is not as opaque? I know clear is impossible but maybe there is one that is a little closer to what I'm looking for.

[Kerry Beal]

4 hours ago, Saltychoc said:

I'm not really sure where this belongs - I'm trying to attempt a new technique and I need a cocoa butter that is not as opaque. If that even exists. I'm currently using cocoa barry and it has a very yellow finish. Any recommendations for a cocoa butter that is not as opaque? I know clear is impossible but maybe there is one that is a little closer to what I'm looking for.

The classic collection from Chocotransfersheets.com is more transparent. You can of course make your own with fat soluble colors by not adding any titanium dioxide. The power flowers in cocoa butter instead of white chocolate work really well for this. 

[Saltychoc]

15 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

The classic collection from Chocotransfersheets.com is more transparent. You can of course make your own with fat soluble colors by not adding any titanium dioxide. The power flowers in cocoa butter instead of white chocolate work really well for this. 

Thanks! I did not know about that brand. I’m going to get the white and see if I can make it work. 

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, Saltychoc said:

Thanks! I did not know about that brand. I’m going to get the white and see if I can make it work. 

But white has titanium dioxide so likely won't be transparent.

[Saltychoc]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

But white has titanium dioxide so likely won't be transparent.

Oh of course! I haven’t ordered anything yet anyway. I really just wish there was a plain cocoa butter (no coloring at all) that was less yellow. I’ve tried a bunch of them though without luck. I’ll have to see what they have and go from there. 

[Kerry Beal]

38 minutes ago, Saltychoc said:

Oh of course! I haven’t ordered anything yet anyway. I really just wish there was a plain cocoa butter (no coloring at all) that was less yellow. I’ve tried a bunch of them though without luck. I’ll have to see what they have and go from there. 

Can you PM me and tell me what you are trying to accomplish if you aren't comfortable posting it here. 

[Anthony C]

Not sure if this is the right thread to be asking this, but did anyone find a decent replacement for TiO based white cocoa butter? I have been using one based on E170 but to be honest, it's not great and I have to use a lot more when backing colours to prevent dark chocolate making the bonbons dull/darker. This is expensive and also I don't like using so much cocoa butter in case it impacts on flavour/texture.

[pastrygirl]

Do you list the individual colors on your ingredients?  Apparently we are supposed to ...

 

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/color-additives-questions-and-answers-consumers

 

My dept of Ag stopped by today & told me that - I think I wasn't using so many colors at my last inspection, never thought much about it since they're not on the allergen list.

[Anthony C]

I don't currently list the individual colours on my labelling (I'm in the EU). I just put "coloured cocoa butter". I only have to label boxes I sell to hotels that are prepacked. These are small boxes of 4 bonbons and the small size of the "largest surface area" of the box means I don't have to include some information e.g. nutritional. I could add the individual colour additives, but I'm not sure they'd fit on the label with the regulations on sizing of lettering 🤔 Maybe i should give it a go, to be on the safe side.

 

I seem to spend nearly as much time faffing with labels/lot numbers/expiry dates as I do making bonbons

 

I'm not entirely sure that the additives are shown on the labels of the bottles of colours I buy... I will check when I go to my lab this morning.

[Jim D.]

On 3/24/2023 at 11:38 PM, pastrygirl said:

Do you list the individual colors on your ingredients?  Apparently we are supposed to ...

 

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/color-additives-questions-and-answers-consumers

 

My dept of Ag stopped by today & told me that - I think I wasn't using so many colors at my last inspection, never thought much about it since they're not on the allergen list.

 

This change in requirements will have a huge impact on chocolatiers who decorate their chocolates.  It's not unusual, in a batch of 10 different fillings, to use 20-25 different colors.  Listing those individually is completely impractical.  In addition, I assume that, for those who use transfer sheets, more colors would have to be listed.  Are you required to include an ingredient list for chocolates you sell direct to consumer or just for those sold from other businesses (when you sell the chocolates wholesale to those businesses)?  I think of bakeries, which normally don't provide ingredient lists at all--why should we have to do so?

[pastrygirl]

@Jim D. her concern was with a box of bonbons packaged for retail.  I think the theory is that when buying from a bakery you can ask the maker but when  a product is on a shelf in a store it needs to have all the info because even though it's not a top allergen, people have "sensitivities".   I did recently have someone who said red food color gave him heart palpitations.  At the time I did not check the specific colors, he bought bonbons anyway.  I don't think it's serious enough that they'll make me do a recall, more of a 'you really should be doing this' (I hope).

 

I haven't gone through all my CB colors ingredients yet, but I'd guess it's all the same several pigments in different proportions.  Red, yellow, blue, black, white.  Currently to save space & redundancy I list all the bonbon ingredients together, so listing all the colors once wouldn't be that bad.  I've been thinking about creating a bonbon guide with separate ingredients for each flavor, that's going to take A LOT more space.

 

Another thing we should be doing is tracking our raw ingredients so that if one of those gets recalled we know what batch of our products to recall.  I can sort of wrap my head around this for single products but can't quite compute how to do that with an assorted box. Probably requires software and QR codes ...

 

 

 

 

[Saltychoc]

I list the cocoa butter coloring as this "Less than 2% of cocoa butter coloring (blue 1&2, yellow 5&6, red 40, titanium dioxide.)" I just had this label approved a few months ago when I started at a new location. I did weigh a ton of molds before and after spraying and then after capping to ensure that my math was right. Each chocolate (CW2295 mold) contains a max of 1.36% of colored cocoa butter by weight. That is the entire weight of the cocoa butter, including the carrier cocoa butter. If I actually knew the proportions in Chef Rubber, etc then I could probably get away with the "less than 0.5%" labeling but better to be safe. I also have the colors listed in the smallest font size allowed to save space on the label. I do wish the chef rubber didn't use red 40 because a lot of people report sensitivity. The blues also seem to be an issue. I'm not a huge fan of the natural colors available but I am considering using them at least for the vegan bonbons I am testing.

 

For tracking single ingredients I have a spreadsheet on my computer where I enter all of my current ingredients. I add each lot number that uses those ingredients into the title. When I replace something with a new package I duplicate the document and add in the new package serial number or whatever. Then I track the lot numbers on my website by changing the barcodes each time I switch out ingredients. It's ridiculous and takes way too much time but beyond saving labels and taking photos I haven't come up with another system. I keep the spreadsheets, inclusion cards, and back labels in separate folders for each month on my computer. Not sure what will happen when I run out of storage space. There are a bunch of options for software available but I couldn't justify the price. Fillet is good for pricing though.

[Jim D.]

14 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

@Jim D. her concern was with a box of bonbons packaged for retail.  I think the theory is that when buying from a bakery you can ask the maker but when  a product is on a shelf in a store it needs to have all the info because even though it's not a top allergen, people have "sensitivities".   I did recently have someone who said red food color gave him heart palpitations.  At the time I did not check the specific colors, he bought bonbons anyway.  I don't think it's serious enough that they'll make me do a recall, more of a 'you really should be doing this' (I hope).

 

Another thing we should be doing is tracking our raw ingredients so that if one of those gets recalled we know what batch of our products to recall.  I can sort of wrap my head around this for single products but can't quite compute how to do that with an assorted box. Probably requires software and QR codes ...

 

 

 

Heart palpitations, indeed.  Reminds me of a recent episode:  A host told us the almond tart she was serving was gluten-free.  A friend, who has a wicked sense of humor and doesn't put up with a lot, said, "Oh, I am so sorry, I didn't know you had been diagnosed with celiac disease."  The host responded, "Oh, I haven't been.  I just find that when I eat gluten, it causes my dairy intolerance to flare up."  I nearly choked on my gluten-free tart as I stifled my laugh.

 

My inspector brought up the need to be able to trace ingredients a few years ago.  I thought of the horror of recording all that information by hand, so had the idea of keeping my phone handy and photographing the pertinent information from each bag or box as I went along.  He was satisfied, indeed happy, with that idea.  

[Jim D.]

On 3/24/2023 at 11:38 PM, pastrygirl said:

Do you list the individual colors on your ingredients?  Apparently we are supposed to ...

 

 

I just counted, and I used 23 separate colors in my Easter chocolates.  That's a long ingredient list!

 

If I were looking for a sign that it's time to hang up the chocolate-stained apron and call it quits (and I am), this may be it.

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

I just counted, and I used 23 separate colors in my Easter chocolates.  That's a long ingredient list!

 

Sure, but 23 colors of CB are made up of the same 10 ingredients.

 

For example, Webstaurant store has spec sheets for a bunch of Roxy & Rich colors.  I found 11 colors that I currently use:

 

red ruby: CB, mica based pearlescent pigment (mbpp), red #40

orange garnet: CB, mbpp, yellow #6

yellow chrysoberyl: CB, mbpp, yellow #5

gold: CB, mbpp, yellow #5, yellow #6, red #40, blue #2

green sphene:  CB, mbpp, yellow #5, blue #1

turquoise: CB, mbpp, blue #1, yellow #5

aquamarine: CB, mbpp, blue #1

blue sapphire: CB, mbpp, blue #2

purple amethyst: CB, mbpp, red #3, blue #2, red #40, rice protein

pirate black: CB, blue #2, red #40, yellow #6, blue #1, yellow #5

white zircon: CB, mbpp, titanium dioxide

 

but if I don't have to list each color separately, I could just say

colored cocoa butters (CB, mbpp, red #40, yellow #6, yellow #5, blue #2, blue #1, red #3, titanium dioxide, rice protein)

 

I'll check with the inspector if that's ok

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by pastrygirl (log)

[Jim D.]

13 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Sure, but 23 colors of CB are made up of the same 10 ingredients.

 

For example, Webstaurant store has spec sheets for a bunch of Roxy & Rich colors.  I found 11 colors that I currently use:

 

red ruby: CB, mica based pearlescent pigment (mbpp), red #40

orange garnet: CB, mbpp, yellow #6

yellow chrysoberyl: CB, mbpp, yellow #5

gold: CB, mbpp, yellow #5, yellow #6, red #40, blue #2

green sphene:  CB, mbpp, yellow #5, blue #1

turquoise: CB, mbpp, blue #1, yellow #5

aquamarine: CB, mbpp, blue #1

blue sapphire: CB, mbpp, blue #2

purple amethyst: CB, mbpp, red #3, blue #2, red #40, rice protein

pirate black: CB, blue #2, red #40, yellow #6, blue #1, yellow #5

white zircon: CB, mbpp, titanium dioxide

 

but if I don't have to list each color separately, I could just say

colored cocoa butters (CB, mbpp, red #40, yellow #6, yellow #5, blue #2, blue #1, red #3, titanium dioxide, rice protein)

(I'll check with the inspector on if that's ok)

 

That's (possibly) something of a relief, though my annoyance level continues to rise at bureaucracy run amok. It would mean, for me, going through a bottle of every color in my inventory and making a list of its ingredients.  I just checked "Copper," for instance, and it has 6 colorants.   If a potential customer is that sensitive, then that person might want to look for a Hershey's bar. 

[pastrygirl]

Well, there are only so many pigments approved for food use, here's Chef Rubber's info, looks like they don't use red #3.  G3/E143 is a green.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by pastrygirl (log)

[Jim D.]

Can one get away with just listing them all and saying something like "Depending on assortment, ingredients may include ...."?  It all looks quite daunting.  But thanks for providing that information.  I still say the ingredient list will be very long.

[pastrygirl]

Following up, my WSDA inspector did approve listing all the colors combined as one ingredient. 👍

 

So that'll add a few lines to some labels but not a total nightmare.

 

 

[Jim D.]

29 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Following up, my WSDA inspector did approve listing all the colors combined as one ingredient. 👍

 

So that'll add a few lines to some labels but not a total nightmare.

 

 

 

So you will write:  colored cocoa butters (CB, mbpp, red #40, yellow #6, yellow #5, blue #2, blue #1, red #3, titanium dioxide, rice protein)

 

And will you include this text on all labels regardless of whether a colorant is in a particular batch or not?  Or will you go to the trouble of checking which are used?

 

I have a bad feeling that it is the second that is acceptable.

[pastrygirl]

@Jim D. right, I’ll use the one size fits all list unless I hear differently from the FDA. 
 

My assortments usually include the whole rainbow, I did do a couple of single-flavor boxes for Easter, in that case I’d only list the few colors used. 
 

 

[pastrygirl]

New York and California are proposing bans on a few food additives including Red 3 and Titanium dioxide

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/well/eat/food-additive-ban.html?unlocked_article_code=K_O61xWVrWaL-JZIwnalyj8D08p3JGFXUcFSsRNoaTu7MvToM7FUIY_GJWPZ9lAOI2OYcz-ZaGHW4BbhRkXABB8GU8SH_Uw65xlV4rMivmiWbGYKYlKZRA_KB2o-YzBa4i5MnEyl977wJmofZxkndLOOUBXDm6BsBmsEsPlDMyjpNwOs9FtdQFwCJ__81nJQB9sxzp5JBNU4IuErdl_wOnk9hQfFMV5mzcc8x04ULlkald6-1-0YluRWUsXdC8RIkRWcZG1_NrsZjiJpI2EQHHNnVRWinvs089hhYTmAIFIBKnrjUDtEit422nEfRIN1L1GNNuqPem7TFMi0&giftCopy=3_Independent&smid=url-share

 

Looking at the colors I use, red 3 is only in fuchsia tourmaline (a favorite 😳) and purple amethyst, but jewel colors might all have titanium dioxide - E171 is listed in the 'mica based pearlescent pigment' .  Oh well, we have a couple of years at minimum.