Never mind Iraq ... this is the War of the Chocolates
January 17, 2003 ~ 9:51 a.m.
The next time you bite into a chocolate bar, you will be giving the finger to Spaniards and Italians.
On Thursday, the European Union ruled that Spain and Italy drop their national rules on what chocolate is. Sounds like a job for former President Clinton. Once he�s defined �is� for the EU Court of Justice, perhaps they can get around to defining chocolate.
The gist is that Spain and Italy labeled candy bars made with vegetable fats, many of them manufactured in Ireland or Britain, as �chocolate substitute.� That, of course, is laughable. Ask any vegetarian � carob is chocolate substitute. Candy bars made from vegetable fats are simply another type of chocolate.
The European Union apparently saw the sense in that argument and ruled that chocolate is chocolate, regardless of whether it is made from vegetable fats or cocoa butter, the latter being the prime ingredient used for chocolate in Spain and Italy.
It is these two nations� insistence that �true� chocolate consists of cocoa butter that caused the European Union�s Head Office to take the two Mediterranean countries to court in 2000.
Nestle and Cadbury are thrilled at the ruling. Meanwhile, Italy�s Agriculture Minister, Gianni Alemanno, fumed that the decision �goes against quality and correct information for the consumer.� Whoa.
I would be inclined to feel sorry for the Spaniards and Italians if not for the fact that this case seems so wonderfully absurd.
I�m not quite sure where American chocolate such as Hershey�s fits into this scenario. Dare I to think that the EU would rule in our favor as well?
Bon appetite.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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