Chocolate Processed With Alkali

[StrongerToday]

what do you know about chocolate alkali? Is it safe? When I first went gluten free and researched it some old information said ketchup, vanilla, some alcohol wasn't safe... is this the same for chocolate alkali? That perhaps it was thought not to be safe - but is it? I've been known to eat my fair share of it and never had a problem, but some just told me today it's not gluten free, so I'm very curious.

Thanks!

[larry mac]

First off, alkali is not alcohol. Even if it was, the alcohol would be evaporated. Some think some alcohol products made from grains could present a gluten problem. Same for some grain vinegars. I'm not one of them.

Secondly, chocolate processed with alkali is called dutch chocolate. The alkali, a base chemical, removes some of the acidity, makes it more water soluble, and gives the chocolate milder properties. I've always preferred it for chocolate milk. I'm no chemist, but I don't see why this would give the chocolate gluten ingredients.

Anyone?

best regards, lm

[Gfresh404]

Yes, it is gluten-free.

Alkalized Cocoa --> https://www.celiac.com/articles/181/1/Safe-...ents/Page1.html

[Nadia2009]

Are most chocolate safe? What should I be looking for to make sure it is gluten free? Thanks for sharing your tricks.

[larry mac]

  Nadia2009 said:

Are most chocolate safe? What should I be looking for to make sure it is gluten free? Thanks for sharing your tricks.

Whether the ingredients list wheat, barley, or rye. It's really that simple. There are no tricks.

best regards, lm

[lizard00]

I've come across barley malt in some lindt truffles before. The bag was an assortment, and it didn't look like all the flavors contained the barley malt, but it's something to look out for.

I didn't eat any of them, just because I wasn't sure.

[leftiejenessie]

there are actually a lot of things to consider. This goes for all food, not just chocolzte. I thought barley, wheat and rye were the only things to look for, but there are a lot of derivatives of those things that aren't lzbeled as derived from wheat, rye or barley. If it has modified food starch and doesn't specify that it's from corn, it may be from wheat (or potato). Malted barley syrup, malt, barley malt, dextrose, wheat dextrose (in quite a bit of chocolate products), soy sauce, seitan, some chocolate is sweetened with grains, so you have to ask. Imitation meat or imitation seafood is often a problem, gravy, salad dressing, artificial flavors are sometimes derived from gluten-containing grains and don't specify what they are. Ice cream often has gluten products in it. There's probably more, but i've exhausted my brain of ideas for now.

  On 5/11/2009 at 6:52 PM, larry mac said:

Whether the ingredients list wheat, barley, or rye. It's really that simple. There are no tricks.

best regards, lm

[psawyer]

  On 3/8/2012 at 4:30 PM, leftiejenessie said:

there are actually a lot of things to consider. This goes for all food, not just chocolzte. I thought barley, wheat and rye were the only things to look for, but there are a lot of derivatives of those things that aren't lzbeled as derived from wheat, rye or barley. If it has modified food starch and doesn't specify that it's from corn, it may be from wheat (or potato). Malted barley syrup, malt, barley malt, dextrose, wheat dextrose (in quite a bit of chocolate products), soy sauce, seitan, some chocolate is sweetened with grains, so you have to ask. Imitation meat or imitation seafood is often a problem, gravy, salad dressing, artificial flavors are sometimes derived from gluten-containing grains and don't specify what they are. Ice cream often has gluten products in it. There's probably more, but i've exhausted my brain of ideas for now.

There is very little fact in that post. You are working from very out-of-date material. Wheat must be clearly disclosed. Rye doesn't hide (never did). Chocolate which is sweetened with barley malt will say so in the ingredients list.

[Skylark]

There are no nasty surprises in chocolate, thank heavens. As others mentioned Lindt truffles have barley malt, and in most chocolate with "krispies" the crisp rice has barley malt in it. It will be clearly listed in the ingredients.

Occasionally you'll see a label warning "made on shared equipment with wheat". It's so easy to find chocolate without any wheat warning at all, like Ghirardelli, that I skip those brands.

[Lilychic]

Lindt and Godiva are pretty clear that they are not gluten free. Dagoba and Scharffenberger are gluten free. Lecithin can be wheat-derive but usually the manufacturer will label the source. Guittard is gluten free also.

[Skylark]

I have NEVER seen wheat-derived lecithin and I've been reading labels for seven years.

[alex11602]

Also as far as the Lindt brand is concerned they have many plain chocolate bars, if not most of them, that have no gluten ingredients. My children and I get the 90% cocoa bars about once a month as a treat and for the bit of iron that is in dark chocolate.