Eating Vegan: Answering the Chocolate Question
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[Creative Commons photo by nicubunu]
From the land involved to the waste produced, conventional dairy production has a huge environmental impact. Not only is conventional dairy not great for the planet, it’s not so great for you. You can do yourself and your body a favor but cutting back on or cutting out the dairy in your diet.
Whenever folks learn that I don’t eat dairy products, there are certain questions they seem to always ask. One of the most common is:
But don’t you miss chocolate?
The assumption is that chocolate has to contain milk, and that’s just not true at all. What makes chocolate….chocolate…is cocoa butter which despite its name is a plant ingredient. There are tons of companies making great dark chocolate that is 100% vegan and 100% delicious! Finding vegan chocolate is as easy as taking the time to do a bit of label-reading. While you might not be able to just grab a Hershey bar, you don’t have to live a chocolate-free existence, either. Here are just a few tasty options:
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- Many varieties of Ghirardelli dark chocolate are vegan, including their semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Dagoba makes some really tasty dark chocolate. Watch out, though. Since they were bought by Hershey’s a few years ago, I’ve noticed some milk ingredients creeping in. A little label reading is definitely in order here.
- While it’s on the pricier side, Vosges makes amazing dark chocolate.
- Most of Whole Foods’ 365 brand dark chocolate is vegan.
- Sharffen Berger makes a mean dark chocolate bar! And by mean, I mean delicious.
- Not only are there cute critters pictured on every package, Endangered Species’ dark chocolate is 100% fair trade. Recommended: 72% dark chocolate bar with raspberries.
This is hardly a comprehensive list! With a little label reading, you’ll discover lots of other vegan chocolate options out there. Cocoa powder is usually vegan, too, which means you can add chocolate to your soy- or almond milk or to baked goods. Do you have a favorite brand of dark chocolate? I’m always looking for new sorts to try out!
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