You open a chocolate bar or a box of chocolates and you can expect several things: a mild aroma, a crunchy sound when you break it and a shiny and very attractive appearance. What we don’t expect, or at least it’s not desirable, is to find gray streaks, white spots, and discolored swirls that don’t make the chocolate palatable.
What are these spots really? Are we talking about mold? Can we continue to eat it without problem or should we throw it away? What is really hidden behind this white layer? Bacteria? Pathogens? In reality, the problem doesn’t go much beyond an unappetizing appearance. This is what you need to know about its origin.
Chocolate with white spots, a harmless natural process
The whitish coating on a brown chocolate bar is known as sugar bloom or fat bloom, and both can alter the appearance of the chocolate. In the first case, that of sugar blooming, the problem lies in the humidity of the surface and the fact that sugar has a great capacity to absorb humidity. It is precisely this humidity that melts the sugar contained in the chocolate and, when it evaporates, larger sugar crystals form, creating a white, powdery layer on the surface of the chocolate.
This particularity is what makes the chocolate take on an opaque and matte image, and the texture becomes sandy to the touch. This happens when storage conditions are excessively humid or when the temperature is relatively cold – and this would explain why chocolate should not be stored in the refrigerator. When we do this, we cause the chocolate to “sweat,” which produces moisture on the surface. It is something similar to what happens when we take a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, which accumulates moisture on its surface.
On the other hand, fat proliferation occurs during the manufacture or storage of chocolate. When properly tempered (a heating and cooling process that stabilizes and solidifies the cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar), chocolate takes on its shiny, crunchy appearance.
However, if we let the chocolate heat up, the fat crystals melt and, when they crystallize again, they do so in an unstable manner, creating the typical white streaks of fat on the surface. In research published by the American Chemical Society, experts explain how this process occurs and how it can be avoided: the study suggests that reducing the porosity of chocolate during its production could help stop the appearance of this layer fat and improve the overall quality of the chocolate. chocolate.
Regardless, it is perfectly safe to eat this candy because the layer that forms does not affect its shelf life. We now understand better that the chocolate, whether due to excess sugar or fat, has not been spoiled, only its internal structure has changed, since the sugar or fat have lost their corresponding positions and are widespread everywhere.
However, even though a whitish chocolate bar is safe to eat, it may not taste the best because it has lost its original consistency and flavor: the texture seems chalky and crumbly and the chocolate will break into pieces again sooner to start melting.
Temperature and humidity: the keys to avoiding the appearance of white spots in chocolate
To prevent chocolate from turning white, we must handle and store it with care. And here temperature and humidity play a key role. One of the best ways to prevent chocolate from spoiling is to store it at a constant temperature, neither too high nor too cold, but away from humidity, in a cool, dry place, in a container airtight and always better if it is in a dark place, away from any light source. The ideal temperature is between 15°C and 20°C.
If the temperature at home is higher, we can store it in the refrigerator, but always keeping in mind one aspect: wrap it well in movie clear foil or and place it in an airtight container to prevent the moisture inside from spoiling the sugar.
When we take it out of the refrigerator, it is important to let it reach room temperature before unwrapping it, for about 15 or 20 minutes, to let the chocolate heat up gradually and avoid condensation, which can cause the sugar or fat to disperse on the surface.
It should be kept in mind that although chocolate stored in the refrigerator can technically extend its shelf life, it can also decrease its flavor quality because the cold temperature can encourage the formation of condensation and thus affect its flavor. We are faced with a food that is not only sensitive to temperature and humidity, but also has a high capacity to absorb odors, which requires us to keep it away from foods with strong odors. In addition, when handling it, it is also not recommended to touch it with wet or damp hands.
How do you know chocolate is bad?
Now that we know that white spots are not a sign of deterioration or expiration, it is important to know when to worry. It is also true that chocolate has a low water content, which inhibits the growth of microorganisms and is therefore more difficult to spoil.
But it can still happen. There are several indicators that tell us that chocolate is expired – even though it has a long shelf life, around six to eight months for milk chocolate and a little longer for dark chocolate. One of these indicators is the presence of a dull appearance, a musty or rancid smell, or a sour taste.
The presence of mold is another great indicator that chocolate is going bad and a clear sign that we need to throw it away. The presence of real mold has nothing to do with the white spots we talked about: the whitish layer is rather an aesthetic problem that does not make it harmful, but mold is a sign of deterioration and, in this case, when the chocolate is moldy, so it’s best to throw it away.
It is always important, in addition to paying attention to certain signals that foods send us, to check the expiration date indicated on the packaging. It is likely that we will observe that there are differences between that of milk chocolate and that of white chocolate, which is generally a little higher than that of dark chocolate. The explanation lies in the higher fat content, which makes these chocolates more sensitive to heat and with these temperature variations, the deterioration process is accelerated.
