# Legal definitions of chocolate

The legal definitions of chocolate, and types of chocolates varies by countries and region. They have been the subject of debate and lobbying.

## Canada

The legislation for cocoa and chocolate products in Canada is found in Division 4 of the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR), under the Food and Drugs Act (FDA). The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the FDR and FDA (as it relates to food).
Canadian requirements for chocolate :
| Product | Cocoa butter | Milk solids | Milk fat | Fat-free cocoa solids | Cocoa solids |
| Milk chocolate | ≥ 15% | ≥ 12% | ≥ 3.39% | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 25% |
| Sweet chocolate | ≥ 18% | < 12% | | ≥ 12% | ≥ 31% |
| Chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate or dark chocolate | ≥ 18% | < 5% | | ≥ 14% | ≥ 35% |
| White chocolate | ≥ 20% | ≥ 14% | ≥ 3.5% | | |
The use of cocoa butter substitutes in Canada is not permitted. Chocolate sold in Canada cannot contain vegetable fats or oils.
The only sweetening agents permitted in chocolate in Canada are listed in Division 18 of the Food and Drug Regulations. Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and sugar alcohols (sorbitol, maltitol, etc.) are not permitted.
Products manufactured or imported into Canada that contain non-permitted ingredients (vegetable fats or oils, artificial sweeteners) cannot legally be called "chocolate" when sold in Canada. A non-standardized name such as "candy" must be used.

## European Union and United Kingdom

There has been disagreement in the EU about the definition of chocolate; this dispute covers several issues, including the types of fat and the quantity of cocoa used. In 1999, however, the EU resolved the fat issue by allowing up to 5% of chocolate's content to be one of six alternatives to cocoa butter: illipe oil, palm oil, sal, shea butter, kokum gurgi, or mango kernel oil.
Products labelled as "family milk chocolate" elsewhere in the European Union are permitted to be labelled as simply "milk chocolate" in Malta, the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Chocolate requirements in the European Union and United Kingdom :
| Product | Total dry cocoa solids | Cocoa butter | Non-fat cocoa solids | Total fat | Milk fat | Milk solids | Flour/starch |
| Dark chocolate | ≥ 35% | ≥ 18% | ≥ 14% | | | | |
| Couverture chocolate | ≥ 35% | ≥ 31% | ≥ 2.5% | | | | |
| Chocolate vermicelli or flakes | ≥ 32% | ≥ 12% | ≥ 14% | | | | |
| Milk chocolate | ≥ 25% | | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 25% | ≥ 3.5% | ≥ 14% | |
| Couverture milk chocolate | ≥ 25% | | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 31% | ≥ 3.5% | ≥ 14% | |
| Milk chocolate vermicelli or flakes | ≥ 20% | | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 12% | ≥ 3.5% | ≥ 12% | |
| Family milk chocolate | ≥ 20% | | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 25% | ≥ 5% | ≥ 20% | |
| Cream chocolate | ≥ 25% | | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 25% | ≥ 5.5% | ≥ 14% | |
| Skimmed milk chocolate | ≥ 25% | | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 25% | ≤ 1% | ≥ 14% | |
| White chocolate | | ≥ 20% | | | | ≥ 14% | |
| Chocolate a la taza | ≥ 35% | ≥ 18% | ≥ 14% | | | | ≤ 8% |
| Chocolate familiar a la taza | ≥ 30% | ≥ 18% | ≥ 12% | | | | ≤ 18% |

## Japan

In Japan, "chocolate products" are classified on a complex scale.
Chocolate materials (チョコレート生地, chokorēto kiji):
* Pure chocolate material (純チョコレート生地, jun-chokorēto kiji)
    Cocoa content ≥35%, cocoa butter ≥18%, sucrose ≤55%, lecithin ≤0.5%, no additives other than lecithin and vanilla flavoring, C, water ≤3%
* Pure milk chocolate material (純ミルクチョコレート生地, jun-miruku chokorēto kiji)
    Cocoa content ≥21%, cocoa butter ≥18%, milk solids ≥14%, milk fats ≥3.5%, sucrose ≤55%, lecithin ≤0.5%, no additives other than lecithin and vanilla flavoring, no fats other than cocoa butter and milk fats, water ≤3%
* Chocolate material (チョコレート生地, chokorēto kiji)
    Cocoa content ≥35%, cocoa butter ≥18%, water ≤3%. It is also permitted to substitute milk solids for cocoa content as follows: cocoa content ≥21%, cocoa butter ≥18%, combined milk solids & cocoa content ≥35%, milk fats ≥3%, water ≤3%.
* Milk chocolate material (ミルクチョコレート生地, miruku chokorēto kiji)
    Cocoa content ≥21%, cocoa butter ≥18%, milk solids ≥14%, milk fats ≥3%, water ≤3%
* Quasi chocolate material (準チョコレート生地, jun-chokorēto kiji)
    Cocoa content ≥15%, cocoa butter ≥3%, fats ≥18%, water ≤3%
* Quasi milk chocolate material (準ミルクチョコレート生地, jun-miruku chokorēto kiji)
    Cocoa content ≥7%, cocoa butter ≥3%, fats ≥18%, milk solids ≥12.5%, milk fats ≥2%, water ≤3%
Chocolate products (チョコレート製品, chokorēto seihin):
Products using milk chocolate or quasi milk chocolate as described above are handled in the same way as chocolate / quasi chocolate.
* Chocolate (チョコレート, chokorēto)
    Processed chocolate products made from chocolate material itself or containing at least 60% chocolate material. Processed chocolate products must contain at least 40% chocolate material by weight. Amongst processed chocolate products, those containing at least 10% by weight of cream and no more than 10% of water can be called raw chocolate (生チョコレート, nama chokorēto)
* Chocolate sweet (チョコレート菓子, chokorēto kashi)
    Processed chocolate products containing less than 60% chocolate material
* Quasi chocolate (準チョコレート, jun-chokorēto)
    The quasi symbol should officially be circled. Processed quasi chocolate products made from quasi chocolate material itself or containing at least 60% quasi chocolate material.
* Quasi chocolate sweet (準チョコレート菓子, jun-chokorēto kashi)
    Processed quasi chocolate products containing less than 60% quasi chocolate material

## United States

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the naming and ingredients of cocoa products:
Semisweet and bittersweet are terms traditionally used in the United States to indicate the amount of added sugar in dark chocolate. Typically, bittersweet chocolate has less sugar than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable when baking. Both must contain a minimum of 35% cocoa solids.
In the American chocolate industry chocolate liquor is the ground or melted state of the nib of the cacao bean, containing roughly equal parts cocoa butter and solids.
American requirements for chocolate :
| Product | Chocolate liquor | Milk solids | Sugar | Cocoa fat | Milk fat |
| Buttermilk chocolate | ≥ 10% | ≥ 12% | | | < 3.39% |
| Milk chocolate | ≥ 10% | ≥ 12% | | | ≥ 3.39% |
| Mixed dairy product chocolates | ≥ 10% | ≥ 12% | | | |
| Skim milk chocolate | ≥ 10% | ≥ 12% | | | < 3.39% |
| Sweet chocolate | ≥ 15% | < 12% | | | |
| Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate | ≥ 35% | < 12% | | | |
| White chocolate | | ≥ 14% | ≤ 55% | ≥ 20% | ≥ 3.5% |
In March 2007, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, whose members include Hershey's, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, began lobbying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change the legal definition of chocolate to allow the substitution of "safe and suitable vegetable fats and oils" (including partially hydrogenated vegetable oils) for cocoa butter in addition to using "any sweetening agent" (including artificial sweeteners) and milk substitutes. Currently, the FDA does not allow a product to be referred to as "chocolate" if the product contains any of these ingredients. To work around this restriction, products with cocoa substitutes are often branded or labeled as "chocolatey" or "made with chocolate".