Gluten free chocolate

Article By: Katie “Joy” Gilbert

 

I went to my local store yesterday to buy some coffee, and as I walked in there was a huge rack of Gluten Free Chocolate and Sugarless Chocolate as you walk in. Clearly a new product line for this major food chain in Australia, and wanting to get it in front of the eyes of the consumers.

Well it got my attention!

With a large variety of flavours to choose from this gluten free chocolate range, I selected a block of ‘Cranberries In Dark Chocolate’ and ‘Raspberries In White Chocolate’. Both are also ‘sugarless’ with ‘no added sugar’ (great for diabetics or blood sugar sensitivities). There was no price on the rack, which always sets my bells off for suspicion of a high-end price. It was a fair alarm bell, because at $7.95 a block it’s a little hefty.

 

 

 

Was the price worth it?

Well, I got home and put the coffee machine on… and although I am not a huge sweets fan (will go for savoury any time of the day!) I was so curious that I broke open the packet before my cup of coffee was ready.

I first took a bite of the ‘Raspberries In White Chocolate’. The burst of sweetness smacked my tongue. I really didn’t expect it to taste so sweet! While it contains no sugar, upon checking the food label on the back, it does contain ‘Maltitol’ as it’s first ingredient (a sugar alternative).

From Wikipedia:

“Maltitol is a sugar alcohol (a polyol) used as a sugar substitute. It has 75-90% of the sweetness of sucrose (table sugar) and nearly identical properties, except for browning. It is used to replace table sugar because it has fewer calories, does not promote tooth decay, and has a somewhat lesser effect on blood glucose. In chemical terms, maltitol is known as 4-O-α-glucopyranosyl-D-sorbitol. It is known under trade names such as Maltisorb, Maltisweet and Lesys.”

The texture of the real raspberries within the white chocolate is simply divine! Delicious!

Then it was time for a bit of my favourite. Dark chocolate. This was the ‘Cranberries in Dark Chocolate,’ and was equally as sweet, but with smaller bits of berries and a more ‘natural’ taste of chocolate (for me).

For both of these I rate:

Flavour: 9/10

Texture: 9/10

Price: 8/10

Personally, I’d prefer a dash of real sugar any day, and just enjoy a small piece of chocolate now and then.

The price, while reasonable-to-high for a special food product is probably even more so because it’s an import to Australia from Spain.

The company that is marked on the back of this product is www.sugarlessco.com – in case you’d like more information.

If you try out some of the other flavours of chocolate, please leave your comment below and let us all know what you think of this gluten free chocolate!