GMOs in European chocolate

[pastrygirl]

There are two local grocery stores here who I'd like to try to sell chocolate to but they have policies forbidding GMO soy,  Soy lecithin is allowed only if organic or certified non-GMO. 

 

I use a lot of Felchlin, some Valrhona, a little Cacao Barry. The only mention of GMOs I've found from Felchlin is this note in a brochure: GMO absence:  Felchlin fulfills current legislative requirements regarding GMO absence.  All Felchlin products comply with the Swiss Regulation and the European Council Regulation related to genetically modified organisms in food and feed.

 

Does anybody know what those requirements are?  Is anything European going to be GMO-free?  Or labeled above some %?

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I can't speak to the specific questions, but any chocolate with soy lecithin is probably at risk of being GMO.  Not withstanding the Swiss seem to be very strict:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food_in_Europe

 

Personally I care more that my chocolate not be a product of slave labor.

 

 

 

[teonzo]

Valrhona's FAQs say their chocolates are GMO free.

Barry Callebaut FAQs give a shady answer, I read it as "not everything we use is GMO free". Here is one of the European laws they are referring to, it takes a speleologist to navigate in all those subsections.

 

Best thing you can do is explaining this problem to your purveyors, if they care about your money then they are required to give you these infos.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[pastrygirl]

Thanks @teonzo I guess I wasn’t very thorough looking through Valrhona’s info. I had attended a Felchlin demo with Susan Notter last week and asked her; she just emailed me their statement on being non-gmo so this is looking good!  

[Chocolot]

Guittard has gone to sunflower lecithin if that helps.