Cocoa butter is the fat that is typically used in real chocolate. In some chocolates, a small part of cocoa butter is substituted by other specific fats. These fats are always non-hydrogenated and are not chemically modified. In other words, real chocolate contains no hydrogenated oils and virtually no trans-fats.

At Puratos, the only fat we use in our real chocolate is cocoa butter.

In contrast, chocolate compound coatings are made with vegetable fats other than cocoa butter. When the fat used is partially hydrogenated (a chemical process that involves turning unsaturated fats into partially or fully saturated fats) it can become a source of trans-fat. However, fat suppliers and the fat industry have worked hard to find a healthier alternative for these partially hydrogenated fats: non-hydrogenated fats or fully hydrogenated fats. While in most markets, trans-fats have been entirely removed from those products, trans-fat may still be present in a few markets.

Puratos has been working on this challenge and has almost reached its target of having no compound coatings that contain partially hydrogenated fats.