YC Chocolate - FAQ's About Chocolate



	Frequently asked questions (FAQ's):

Order by phone or for assistance, call Monday - Saturday 9am-7pm EST! 1 (800) 433-2462

Why is it sweet? What is the sweetener?

Can a diabetic eat these?

Are these chocolates mainly for diabetics?

Can a person with Celiac Disease eat these?

Can a person with Candida eat these?

Are these chocolates gluten free?

Why is NATURAL so unusual in SUGAR FREE chocolates?

Is this real chocolate?

What does 50% cacao mean? How much do the other companies have?

Is there alcohol in any of your products?

Where is your chocolate grown?

Do these chocolates have fewer calories than chocolates with sugar?

Is there less fat? Are these fat free?

If the product is lactose free, how do you have Milk Chocolate?

Is this product considered to be LOW-CARB?

What is the FDA�s position on �Low Carb�?

Why are some YC chocolates called �No Sugar Added�?

Will these chocolates cause a laxative effect?

Is the sweetener Maltitol the same as other sweeteners on the market (such as Aspartame, Sucralose-brand name is �Splenda�, Mannitol, Sorbitol also known as the brand names Equal, Sweet One, NutraSweet)?

What does YC mean?

Is this a new company?

Notable achievements since the Yamate sugar free introduction.

How are YC chocolates available?

What are Caramel Nut Bars?

What are Truffles?

What is Buttercrunch?

Other Confectionary Facts

Is there a cross contamination risk from the nuts used in your chocolates?

Why is it sweet? What is the sweetener?
The sweetener is Maltitol, a natural corn derivative. This
sweetener is a slow to non-digestible carbohydrate and therefore
does not raise blood sugar levels. It is identified on the Nutritional
Panel under carbohydrates as “Sugar Alcohols” or Maltitol.
Maltitol is neither a sugar nor an alcohol, but has been given this
name by the FDA because the Maltitol molecule looks half like a
sugar molecule and half like an alcohol molecule. Maltitol is about
90% as sweet as sugar without any aftertaste.

Can a diabetic eat these?
Yes!. As with all sugar free and no sugar added foods, these
chocolates should be eaten under the advise of a physician One
statement required by the FDA is “Not for use by diabetics without
the advise of a physician”. This does not mean that diabetics
cannot eat any products with this statement. It means that ALL
foods, both sugar and sugar free, need to be evaluated in the
diet of each individual who has diabetes. Since diabetics have
other concerns besides just sugar, YC Chocolate sugar free
chocolates have the advantage of not containing anything
artificial that may cause additional complications to their health.

Are these chocolates mainly for diabetics?
NO! YC Chocolate sugar free chocolates are for anyone wishing
to reduce the amount of sugar in their diet. Each person roughly
ingested approximately 150-160 lbs of sugar per year from all
sources. YC chocolates’ taste and look is meant to satisfy all
chocolate expectations!

Can a person with Celiac Disease eat these?
YES! All YC products are gluten-free. We are recommended by
www.glutenfreemall.com associated with www.Celiac.com

Can a person with Candida eat these?
Yes! Candida loves sugar in any form. Diet is your main weapon
against candida. In general, a low carbohydrate diet is preferred.
Carbohydrates, even complex ones, eventually break down to
glucose (sugar) in the digestive tract, and sugar feeds candida.
YC products are sugar free. YC’s No Sugar Added Products with
Almonds are recommended as safe. Nuts such as cashews and
peanuts are not recommended.
Why do these TASTE SO DELICIOUS?
We have added back the natural flavors that occur in chocolates
“with sugar” that do not occur when using a sugar substitute. The
chocolate that we developed* has a finer texture, better taste
profile and increased cocoa content. Our 3 oz Bars contain 70%
Cocoa in the Dark and 50% in the Milk. Maltitol is not what makes
YC Chocolate taste good, it is what prevents them from having an
aftertaste.

Are these Chocolates gluten free?
Yes, YC Chocolates are gluten free.

Why is NATURAL so unusual in SUGAR FREE chocolates?
YC was the FIRST domestic company to make our sugar free
confections with All Natural ingredients free of all Trans Fats*
We were also the first domestic company to have developed a
sugar free chocolate without anything artificial for use exclusively
in our confectionery line.

Is this real chocolate?
Yes. This is a 100% cacao-based product. By FDA standards, to
label a product “chocolate” it must include the ingredient “sugar”.
Therefore, we are not allowed to use the word “chocolate” on the
packaging and must label the ingredient as “chocolate flavored”
since the sweetener is Maltitol. With the exception of Maltitol, ALL
other ingredients are the same as natural chocolates with sugar.

What does 50% cacao mean? How much do the other
companies have?
After you ferment, dry, roast and grind a cocoa bean you can
squeeze the resulting paste to get the cocoa butter out. This
leaves you with two macro components: Cocoa Powder and Cocoa
Butter. If you choose not to squeeze, you are left with the
unseparated components of the cocoa bean known variously as
Chocolate Liquor, Cacao, Cocoa, Nibs (if its not finely ground)…
We then have three macro components from the bean. This may
seem trivial until you start mixing liquor from one bean variety or
region with cocoa from another and cocoa butter from yet another,
each, of course, with different taste and texture characteristics.
When we do this sort of thing, we have to say so in the ingredient
list. So, you’ll find Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa and Cocoa Butter in
the ingredient list of our chocolates. Because these three
components come from the cocoa bean we just add them together
to get the total cocoa content. In the Milk bar the cocoa content is
more than 1.5oz therefore we claim 50% cocoa. In the Dark bar, it’
s 70%.

Cocoa content in other milk bars can be as low as 10% with 15%
being the minimum in dark bars. These cocoa percentages are the
minimums allowed by the FDA Standard of Identity CFR21 Ch1
Part163 Section 130 which refers to chocolate. Other sugar free
manufacturers typically use 65% Maltitol, 15% Milk and 20%
Cocoa. In sugar free confections, it’s not good to have too much
sweetener so we’ve chosen to reduce the sweetener and increase
the cocoa content which improves the cocoa taste but makes the
resulting bar less sweet and much more expensive.

Is there alcohol in any of your products?
No. The ingredient "chocolate liquor" is the base substance of all
real chocolate and cocoa products. It is the finely ground nib of
the cocao bean and contains no alcohol. In addition, none of the
flavoring used in our products contain alcohol.

Where is your chocolate grown?
Ghana, Nigeria, Malaysia, Java, Brazil, Dominican Republic

Do these chocolates have fewer calories than chocolates
with sugar?
This is not a low calorie product. Items containing nuts will not be
significantly lower in calories, since nuts will not vary from a sugar
to a sugar free product. Maltitol has slightly fewer calories which
are non to slowly digested (2.1 calories per gram) than sugar (at
4 digestible calories). These calories are not absorbed by the
body. To arrive at the net calories digested, subtract from the
total calories, 2.1 calories per gram of Maltitol.

Is there less fat? Are these fat free?
This is not a low fat product. However, the saturated fat is from
the cocoa butter contained in chocolate. Cocoa butter is a stearic
acid like olive oil or soy oil, other stearic acids, which have a
neutral effect on blood cholesterol unlike other types of saturated
fats which raise blood cholesterol levels.

If the product is lactose free, how do you have Milk
Chocolate?
The only milk components in our bars are milk proteins in the form
of sodium caseinate and whey protein isolate. All other
components of milk have been removed. That is enough milk to
satisfy us but not the Standard of Identity which requires milk fat
and all the other components of milk excluding the water. Once
again we do not make chocolate.

Is this product considered to be LOW-CARB?
Yes! This product has low net digestible carbohydrates. Full
disclosure of ALL nutrition facts must be listed on the nutritional
panel whether the body digests them or not. On the bars, for
example, the grams of carbs listed on the panel for Maltitol (or
sugar alcohols, another name for these type of sweeteners) and
fiber should be subtracted from the Total Carbohydrates to arrive
at the Net Digestible Carbs. Therefore, the bars contain 2-4 g net
carbs per serving size (depending on the flavor).

What is the FDA’s position on “Low Carb”?
The FDA is in the process of setting standards by which all
products will need to comply to be called “low carb”. YC
established FDA compliance for sugar free and no sugar added
products long before “low carb” became a trend. These
standards are much more restrictive than the proposed low carb
requirements being evaluated. Therefore YC products are
already, by their nature, low carb and responsible to the diabetic
community. Not all low carb products are sugar free or no sugar
added, as currently defined by the FDA and therefore safe for
diabetics. (Remember, even raisins are one of the highest
sources of sugar!)

Why are some YC chocolates called “No Sugar Added”?
These items have nuts. Nuts contain about 5-6% naturally
occurring sugar which we do not know how to remove. Other than
the presence of the natural sugar in nuts, WE DO NOT ADD ANY
OTHER SUGAR.

Will these chocolates cause a laxative effect?
The sweetener Maltitol may cause this reaction in different
degrees depending on each individual’s tolerance and
consumption amount. Some people do not have any reaction as
Maltitol has one of the highest tolerances against this reaction
(100 grams per day) YC product uses a minimum amount of this
sweetener which is needed for a flavorful product and therefore
has lessened the laxating effect by approximately 35-63% over
other products using this sweetener. We have also included
Inulin, a pre-biotic, in the chocolate that helps to counteract the
laxating effect. Inulin helps in the digestion of the sweetener, aids
in the absorption of vitamins and minerals and helps a diabetic to
control their blood sugar.

Is the sweetener Maltitol the same as other sweeteners on
the market (such as Aspartame, Sucralose-brand name is
“Splenda”, Mannitol, Sorbitol also known as the brand
names Equal, Sweet One, NutraSweet)?
No. With the exception of Sorbitol in this list, the others are
artificial. Sorbitol is considered to be natural, but, has a much
stronger laxative effect. Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than
sugar and has been classified as artificial by the Natural
community.

What does YC mean?
YC are the last name initials of the business founders, Diane
Yamate and John Cunnell.

Is this a new company?
John Cunnell and Diane Yamate founded YC Chocolate in 1997,
but both had extensive manufacturing backgrounds based in
“sugar confectionery” with a combined experience of over 40
years.

Notable achievements since the Yamate sugar free
introduction.
YC Chocolate won for 2 years at the NY Fancy Food Show, “Best
of Aisle” (best product of aisle, even in competition with “sugar”
products) awarded by retailers voting in the Gourmet Retailer
Magazine; Received “Best New Product” awarded by Specialty
Food Magazine (magazine of the NASFT organization) by retailers
2000; Was the first sugar free chocolate company to be allowed
to sell to Whole Foods Markets and is one of a less than a handful
of manufacturers to be a supplier for Atkins Nutritionals, the
leader driving the low carb revolution and awareness.

How are YC chocolates available?
YC Chocolate makes several flavors of Truffles, Dry-Roasted
Almond Buttercrunch, Almond Caramel Nut Bars, our “Master
Piece™”, 3 oz 70% Cacao Dark Bar, 3 oz. 50% Cacao Milk Bar, 3
oz. Dark and Milk Bars with Real Orange Bits, 3 oz. Dark and Milk
Bars with Whole Dry Roasted Almonds (30 almonds per bar). Our
YC “chocolate” is also available in a food service pack for a recipe
ingredient in low carb/sugar free bakery items. It is the decision of
retailers to decide which format is best suited for their needs.

What are Caramel Nut Bars?
This confection is a center dense with whole dry-toasted nuts and
caramel then coated in chocolate. We offer them with almonds
and cashews. Whole nuts are dry-roasted shortly before making
them into our caramel nut bars.

What are Truffles?
Truffles are a whipped chocolate confection for those who prefer a
soft intense chocolate center instead of one, which is chewy or
crunchy. We offer several flavors of Truffles in milk or dark
chocolate.

What is Buttercrunch?
Just like it sounds - A buttery crackle-crunch center thinly pulled
and cut. It is then dipped into our 50% cocoa milk and covered
with coarsely chopped dry-toasted almonds.

Other Confectionery Facts:
·        Correct FDA Serving Size for Confectionery other than hard
candies-40 grams reference amount
·        FDA requires ALL CARBS and SWEETENERS grams to be
listed on the Nutritional Panel whether they are digested or not.
Labeling allows a defining disclosure statement explaining “net
digestible carbs” outside of the Nutritional Panel.
·         Other sources of sugar are Sucrose (white sugar),
Fructose (fruit sugar/fruits), Lactose (milk sugar), Honey, Barley
Malt, (Sunspire), Rice Syrup, Molasses, Brown Sugar (white sugar
mixed with Molasses or partially unrefined white sugar), Corn
Syrup, Dextrose (glucose refined from corn starch), Sucanet
(Florida Crystals-whole cane sugar with water removed)

“Sugar Free chocolate” with these inclusions over 0 .5% allowed
by the FDA can no longer be called “sugar free” and must be
correctly labeled “no sugar added” to be fully FDA compliant.
Even inclusion of a small quantity of the above list of sugar
sources will total over the 0.5% allowance per serving size
(remember the 40 gram rule!)

Is there a cross-contamination risk in your products that
do not contain nuts from the products that do contain
nuts?
The chocolate bars containing almonds are run on the same line
as the chocolate bars without almonds. Within the confines of the
factory we also use pecans, walnuts and cashews but these are
used in the candies and are not run through the chocolate bar
line.
We do not use peanuts in the facility.

There is a declaration statement on the bars stating that the
products are made on equipment also used in the processing of
foods containing tree nuts...so, although these nuts may not be
actually contained in a particular product, there is still the
possibility of cross-over.

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