Microanalytical Quality of Unsweetened Chocolate

A survey was made to determine the sanitary quality of unsweetened chocolate. The analytical data obtained were representative of unsweetened chocolate at the national retail level. The mean and range for each defect, based on a 100-g sample, were as follows: insect fragments, 23.69 (0-95); whole insects, 0.02 (0-4); feather fragments, 0.07 (0-9); and rodent hairs, 0.57 (0-6). Positive samples found for each defect were as follows: insect fragments 99.1%; whole insects 0.7%; feather fragments 4.6%; and rodent hairs 33.2%. The association between the defect pairs is shown in correlation coefficients. It was determined that each defect occurs independently of the others.