How to prevent chocolate from turning white

How many times has it happened to you that you partially eat your favorite chocolate and put rest of it in the fridge, only to find a couple of days later that it has a white fungus like cover all over and the remaining slab of your favorite brown fantasy ends up in the bin! Well, read on to know what exactly that white cover is and how to prevent it from ruining your favorite treat.

People all around the globe and of all age groups love their silky brown treat that is another name for addiction… chocolate! But, a large portion of this delicious treat goes waste every year because the chocolate bars tend to get covered in some white powder like substance making it unappealing to eat.

Many people mistake it for some fungal growth or label it as a cheap quality product. Actually, you do not need to worry as this strange phenomenon occurs because of the presence of fat particles in the chocolate that rises to the surface, affected by the temperature we store these treats at.

You will see an appearance of ‘fat bloom’ when your favorite chocolate is stored in a very cold or very warm place. This change brought about by the variations in temperature leads to a large number of customer complaints each year, as reported by Food Unwrapped on Channel 4.

It is only recently that the scientists have discovered the process of how the chocolate gets covered in white speckles. With the help of an X-ray machine, technicians in Germany discovered that the white powder like substance rises up to the chocolate bar’s surface through tiny cracks. The biggest X-ray machine in the world showed details of this activity in chocolate, which happens when the chocolate bar is not stored at the right temperature.

Chocolates must be ideally stored between the temperature ranges of 14 to 18 degrees Celsius to avoid bloom formation. Even though fat bloom does not make chocolates harmful to consume but the white specks certainly make it unappealing to eat.

In warm temperature condition, the crystalline fat melts, which makes the fat molecule move via the crack towards the surface of the chocolate bar. This phenomenon occurs because of human negligence and costs the chocolate industry huge sum about millions of pound every year, as it the biggest reason for chocolate associated customer complaints.

Chocolatiers around the world are trying to work around a way to prevent chocolates from fat blooming. Until then, one must temper the chocolate precisely that makes it difficult for the fat molecule to separate and bloom by creating perfect crystalline conditions. Or, finish off the rich silky smooth treat before it even gets a chance to bloom!