July 11, 2018 Christophe Boyac
You’re unwrapping your favorite chocolate bar when all of a sudden, surprise! It has turned…white? Read ahead to find out why your chocolate bar forms that unique, dusty film. (Spoiler alert, it’s still safe to eat!)
This white film does not mean the chocolate is moldy or has gone bad. It’s actually just a scientific process called “chocolate bloom”. There are two types of this bloom: sugar bloom and fat bloom.
Sugar bloom happens when moisture comes in contact with the chocolate - it dissolves the sugar crystals on the chocolate’s surface, leaving a white, powdery look.
Fat bloom occurs due to improper storing conditions, dramatic changes in temperature, or a poor tempering process. This bloom will give the chocolate a powdery, white-gray appearance and leave the bar soft in texture.
While all chocolatiers do their best to avoid this bloom, many do not have much control over the shipping conditions once the chocolates are on their way to the customers. The box may stay overnight in the carrier's warehouse where temperatures rise and fall dramatically, causing a bloom to occur.
Overall, it should be noted that chocolate bloom is not harmful to your health, hooray! You can carry on eating your well-deserved sweet. If the chocolate doesn’t taste up-to-par, it is still perfectly good to use for cooking or making hot cocoa.
Thinking of melting your bloomedchocolate? Use some our handcrafted chocolate bars made by artisanal chocolatiers from around the world!
Comments
Kenny - December 30, 2022Thank you so much for this information. I have wasted so much chocolate in the past thinking it had gone bad.
Breezy - December 30, 2022I’ve always been frustrated when seeing this ghostly film on my favorite chocolates. Was just about to cut uo a pear and warm it with a few chocolate caramels. (Saturday night blues medicine!), and there was what I now know is bloom. Can’t imagine why I waited so long to look into this! Chocolate +Caramel+Pear, all melty and warm – best cure! Thanks m!!!!
Carina - December 30, 2022Glad I read this. Was about to return two bars I just bought. If they lack in taste they’ll go in my coffee :)
Natalie - December 30, 2022I had semi sweet chips that had bloomed I wanted to use in cookies. I tossed them in a little
warm melted vegan butter before putting them in my cookie dough, and it worked great.
Og - December 30, 2022I bought a candy bar from the store the other day and noticed a white film at the bottom. I was about to throw it out, but I didn’t wanna waste food so I decided to look it up and I came across this article. I decided to keep it I’m still a little unsure because the store I bought it from was very suspect. Wish me luck.
Tina W. - December 30, 2022Just landed here due to wonderment. Glad I did! Now I know! Thank u for your article.
Donna - December 30, 2022I just saw and I must admit ate, the worst bloom I have ever seen.
I started off with a good quality dark chocolate bar with nuts and orange peel. The Best By date was 11/30/2021. 5 months out, not too bad.
I can only speculate as to what happened. I had the bar in my desk drawer at my office. There may have been a power failure causing the office to get cold then warm or the chocolate may have been damaged in transit somewhere.
It appears that the top half of the bar had melted and then solidified. It exhibited signs of flow (the stampings from the candy molds were obliterated and the top was thinner) as well as showing signs of both fat and sugar bloom. The chocolate was tan-grey and speckled with dark brown (chocolate colored) spots. If I had been at home, I would have put it in the microwave and tried to retemper it.
I was tempted to toss it, but bloomed chocolate is not harmful to eat. It just looks funny.
Then I looked further down the bar. The lower half appeared normal. So I broke off the bloomed part and tasted it.
This was, of course, not the first rate taste experience that I expect from this chocolate manufacturer. It was, however, surprisingly good. The taste was right, but the consistency was off. Too crumbly and the mouth feel was not as smooth as an undamaged bar.
So, to those of you who may think of throwing it away if it has really bloomed, give it a taste. You may find it to be just an unusual treat.
Cheryl - December 30, 2022I’m baking pretzel suckers for the Easter egg hunt at church the day after I had made them they start getting a light brown film on the bunnies that I made is it still OK for me to send this to the Easter egg hunt for the kids to eat
Chris - August 20, 2021Hi, I just threw out 10 large off my favorite chocolate bars. (300 grams approximately each) they all had that white film on it. I did taste it but was not worth the calories for me. I wish I read what the readers wrote I could have used it in my baking. Thank you all for the good ideas and info.
renee balcom - August 19, 2021Just wondering if the chocolate chips that have white on them, can they be used in chocolate chip cookies or will the white show through.
I hate to waste them.
I suppose I could melt it and just make chocolate chunk cookies?
