White chocolate
White chocolate is a chocolate confection made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It lacks the cocoa solids found in other types of chocolate. It is characterized by a pale ivory color. The melting point of cocoa butter, the only cocoa bean component of white chocolate, is high enough to keep white chocolate solid at room temperature, as with milk chocolate or dark chocolate.
Composition
White chocolate does not contain non-fat cocoa solids, the primary constituent of chocolate liquor — chocolate in its raw, unsweetened form. During manufacturing, the dark-colored solids of the cocoa bean are separated from its fatty content, as with milk chocolate and dark chocolate. As a result, this cocoa butter is the only cocoa ingredient in white chocolate. Because it contains no cocoa solids, white chocolate contains only trace amounts of the stimulants theobromine and caffeine. White chocolate may include additional flavorings, such as vanilla.
Regulations
Regulations govern what may be marketed as "white chocolate": In the United States, since 2004, white chocolate must be (by weight) at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% total milk solids, and 3.5% milk fat, and no more than 55% sugar or other sweeteners. Before this date, American firms were required to have temporary marketing permits to sell white chocolate. The European Union has adopted the same standards, except that there is no limit on sugar or sweeteners.[5]
History
In the 1930s, the white chocolate Milkybar was launched in Europe by Swiss company Nestlé.