I Investigated Chocolate Brands - What You Need To Know Before You Buy Chocolate | BOK

Digest This

Nutrition, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

380: Think you're eating chocolate? Maybe not. In this episode, I’m breaking down what’s really hiding behind some of the most recognizable chocolate brands on grocery store shelves. After digging through FDA regulations, ingredient labels, lawsuits, recalls, and independent lab testing, I found that many products marketed as "chocolate" don't actually meet the standards most people assume they do. We’ll talk about the difference between real cacao and chocolate-flavored candy, why ingredients like palm oil and PGPR matter, what recent testing found in certain chocolate products, and how to identify truly high-quality chocolate if you're looking for the health benefits often associated with cacao. Plus, I share my favorite 100% cacao brands, why I eat chocolate every day, and what the research actually says about chocolate's impact on heart health, antioxidants, gut health, and more. If you're a chocolate lover, this episode may completely change the way you shop for chocolate. Topics Discussed: → What legally qualifies as real chocolate? → How to spot fake chocolate on ingredient labels → Why some popular chocolate brands use vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter → The difference between U.S. and European chocolate standards → Artificial dyes, additives, and controversial chocolate ingredients → Heavy metals found in certain chocolate products → Why real cacao has earned its health reputation → The benefits of cacao flavanols and polyphenols → How to choose high-quality dark chocolate → The best 100% cacao chocolate brands As always, if you have any questions for the show please email us at digestthispod@gmail.com. And if you like this show, please share it, rate it, review it and subscribe to it on your favorite podcast app. Sponsored By: → Our Place | Go to https://fromourplace.com/ and use code DIGEST for 10% Timestamps: → 00:03:31 - Most Chocolate Isn't Actually Chocolate → 00:04:25 - RM Palmer's "Chocolatey" Products Explained → 00:05:37 - Why Cocoa Butter Matters → 00:07:14 - Compound Chocolate vs. Real Chocolate → 00:08:03 - Dutch Processing + Lost Health Benefits → 00:09:33 - Mars: M&M's + Snickers Under the Microscope → 00:11:04 - The Problem with Artificial Food Dyes → 00:13:31 - Mars' Broken Dye-Free Promise → 00:16:07 - Nestlé vs. U.S. KitKat → 00:18:24 - Why American KitKats Taste Different → 00:20:59 - Hershey's Chocolate Controversies → 00:22:35 - Why Hershey's Tastes Different Than Other Chocolate → 00:24:17 - When Hershey's Changed Its Recipes → 00:26:51 - The Fight Over the Definition of Chocolate → 00:28:47 - Heavy Metals + Recent Hershey's Investigations → 00:30:34 - What Makes Chocolate Healthy? → 00:32:00 - Flavonoids, Antioxidants + Heart Health → 00:33:28 - Why Most Chocolate Studies Don't Apply to Candy Bars → 00:34:14 - The Best 100% Cacao Chocolate Brands → 00:35:07 - Brands to Buy + Brands to Avoid → 00:36:45 - Aura Ceremonial Cacao → 00:38:02 - Crayolo Cacao + Candida Research → 00:40:20 - Santa Barbara Chocolate Recommendations → 00:40:56 - The Best, Better + Worst Chocolate Options → 00:41:17 - Outro Further Listening: → 7 Coconut Water Brands Caught Misleading Consumers + 5 Brands Actually Worth Buying | BOK Check Out Bethany: → Bethany’s Instagram: @lilsipper → YouTube → Bethany’s Website → Discounts & My Favorite Products → My Digestive Support Protein Powder → Gut Reset Book → Get my Newsletters (Friday Finds) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to The Digest This Podcast, and I'm your host, Bethany Cameron.
0:06.9	Hey guys, welcome back to The Digest This Podcast.
0:10.5	Today, we're talking all things chocolate.
0:13.6	And if you're a chocaholic, this could be good news, but also a little bit of bad news.
0:19.4	So, without further ado, let's get in to the nitty-gritty
0:23.0	on what I found in certain chocolate brands, and I air quote that chocolate, because I'm going to
0:30.6	teach you how to spot fake chocolate and how to actually get the benefits from chocolate because there are actual
0:40.9	benefits from real cacao, but not all cacao is created equal. So by the end of this episode,
0:47.5	you're going to be an expert in knowing which chocolates to choose and which ones to avoid.
0:53.7	Who here uses a microwave for reheating leftovers?
0:57.3	Guys, I've been guilty of it before getting a certain device I now use daily.
1:02.9	And yeah, I used to be that person too.
1:05.5	Reheating last night's dinner because it was quicker than turning on my oven,
1:09.6	which took forever to preheat. And the microwave
1:12.4	just was one more convenient way I thought. And well, now I've definitely switched gears. That
1:21.3	all changed once we got our place Wonder Oven. Their Wonder Oven pro has honestly become one of the most used appliances
1:29.8	in my kitchen. It's an eight in one that preheats 60% faster than a traditional oven and cooks
1:36.6	up to 40% faster. So meals actually happen quicker. And when it comes to reheating leftovers,
1:43.1	say goodbye to the microwave. Our Place Wonder
1:45.6	Oven has replaced heating up our leftovers, not just because it's non-toxic and convenient,
1:51.2	but also because it reheats leftovers in a way that makes you feel like it was just cooked
1:56.4	without any soginess or drying out the food like most toxic microwaves do. It air fries, roasts,
	...

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