# Chocolate forever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565 "2003-02-17T03:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/1 "2003-02-17T03:42:07Z")
I searched the board archives with the few words it would accept. I searched the ordinary dope archives. I did not find an answer (I cannot imagine that this question has not been answered. Maybe someone could answer with a link to where this was answered) Why doesn’t chocolate go off? (question raised when I found a 4 month old half bar of milkybar in a drawer, and ate it) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/2 "2003-02-17T03:51:08Z")
\<\< Why doesn’t chocolate go off? \>\> Because the fuse was a dud. OK, OK, there’s a difference between English English and American English. “Go off” in American English would mean “explode” while in British English is means what Americans would call “go bad.” Chocolate will get stale eventually, but most candy has got so much preservative in it, that it could take a lonnnnnng time. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/3 "2003-02-17T03:53:46Z")
> [@](#): > > “Go off” in American English would mean “explode” while in British English is means what Americans would call “go bad.” You learn something new every day. ‘Go off’ can mean explode in England too, but it more often means ‘go bad’ ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/4 "2003-02-17T04:08:05Z")
Chocolate does go bad, it just takes a long time. A solid chocolate bar will turn white first. Why it turns white I don’t know, but it does. And it tastes stale when it’s white, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/5 "2003-02-17T04:09:12Z")
Yeah, you made me think of exploding chocolate too. And yes, chocolate does indeed go stale if you give it long enough. I have had mummified chocolate; it gets a whitish coating on it and tastes kinda flat and dry and, well, “off”! ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/6 "2003-02-17T04:11:35Z")
I have been told that the white-staining of chocolate is due to the environmental conditions rather than the age. Anyone who knows UK chocolate bars will know that the one I found is already white. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/7 "2003-02-17T05:03:46Z")
AFAIK the white “bloom” happens when chocolate gets is stored too warm. It’s caused by the fat (cocoa butter) migrating to the surface, and chocolate affected is still perfectly safe to eat. I agree that it does affect the taste, though. > [@](#): > > Chocolate will get stale eventually, but most candy has got so much preservative in it, that it could take a lonnnnnng time. If you’re talking “artificial” preservative, then most of it doesn’t, as the sugar is a great natural preservative. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/8 "2003-02-17T05:22:48Z")
Any really dry substance will keep a long time because bacteria needs water at least as much as it needs food (sugar, in this case). So sugar and honey don’t rot as long as they’re kept dry, and I’d imagine chocolate and flour and such would keep just as well if kept in the standard cool, dry place. Life is about balance: Without water to balance the sugar, the little bacterium can’t get a foothold. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/9 "2003-02-17T13:40:19Z")
Dumb of me not to provide the link, always search the Archives: [Straight Dope Staff Report: What causes chocolate to whiten?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mchocwhite.html) ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/10 "2003-02-17T16:10:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by r\_k \* > \*\*It’s caused by the fat (cocoa butter) migrating to the surface, and chocolate affected is still perfectly safe to eat. \*\* Is that really true? I know that that’s what the staff report (linked to by our faithfull **CK** ) claims, but let’s face it - It’s not written by Cecil. I don’t mean to say that **Karen** is unreliable, but her signature doesn’t carry the same clout as **The Master**. I read recently in _On Food and Cooking_, by Harold McGee, that the white bloom on chocolate is in fact crystalized sugar. What he claims happens is that water condenses on the chocolate surface, where it leaches out sugar from the interior. When the water evaporates again, the sugar forms opaque crystals. I believe that the fact that this only happens if the chocolate is exposed to the atmosphere, would be in favour of the ‘sugar-crystal-hypothesis’, but I’d like to know the straight dope! ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/11 "2003-02-17T16:36:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Popup \* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by r\_k_ > > It’s caused by the fat (cocoa butter) migrating to the surface, and chocolate affected is still perfectly safe to eat. > > Is that really true? > > [snipped portions call into question the words of the esteemed SDSTAFF **Karen**] From the howstuffworks [Chocolate FAQ](http://home.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=chocolate.htm&url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/food/chocolate/faq/) > [@](#): > > 1.6 What is this white, blotchy stuff on my chocolate bar? > > A white, filmy residue on chocolate is called a bloom. It occurs when some of the cocoa butter in the chocolate separates from the cocoa solids, usually when the chocolate is stored in a warm area. If you buy a chocolate bar and find it has bloomed, don’t let the sales person convince you the taste has not been altered. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/12 "2003-02-17T19:16:30Z")
Although it should be intuitive, many people don’t realize that salt and suger are incredibly effective preservatives. Anything with a lot of sugar in it will not readilly spoil. Most candy, while it may harden with time, will not spoil because of the sugar content. A bottle of ketchup left on a diner table will take a long time to spoil because of the sugar. Jams and jelly’s don’t readilly spoil. If you want to preserve meat you throw lots of salt on it. I guess we’re so used to thinking of preservatives at exotic chemicals that the efficiency of sugar and salt goes unnoticed. That’s another reason why those two tastes have become so predominent in our diets. Their effective use as preservatives have made them a part of many of the foods that are pleasing to the palate. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/13 "2003-02-17T21:45:32Z")
It doesn’t get stale? Try telling that to the long-hidden bag of chocolate chips in the pantry. Ugh. What a waste of chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chocolate-forever/155565/14 "2003-02-19T08:55:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Threadkiller \* > \*\*[snipped portions call into question the words of the esteemed SDSTAFF **Karen** > … > From the howstuffworks Chocolate FAQ \*\* I am terribly sorry to have brought the slightest shadow of doubt to bear on the highly respected staff member **Karen**. Further research shows that there are indeed two kinds of bloom, **sugar bloom** (caused by crystalised sugar, formed when the humidity is not properly controlled, by condensing/evaporating water) and **fat bloom** , caused mainly by storing at too high temperature. To back this claim up, I refer to [Nestlè](http://www.nestleeuropeanchocolate.com/baci/entertaining/tips/view.asp?article=storing): > [@](#): > > There are two types of bloom - sugar bloom and fat bloom. Sugar bloom happens when solid chocolate encounters moisture. Sugar crystals rise to the surface and may make the surface rough and pitted. Fat bloom is a result of exposure to warmer than ideal temperatures. And if that leaves anyone unconvinced, here is what the [International Cocoa Organization](http://www.icco.org/questions/chocstorage.htm) has to say on the subject: > [@](#): > > Problems caused by poor storage include sugar bloom and fat bloom > **Sugar bloom** makes the surface of the chocolate appear gray, covered in a thin layer of sticky syrup or covered with sugar crystals. It is caused by the dissolving of sugar from the chocolate by surface moisture, which eventually dries off leaving sugar crystals [snip] > **Fat bloom** also makes the surface of the chocolate appear gray but it is made up of minute fat crystals. So, I’d say that we were both correct, and I regret having doubted the word of a staff member.