Chocolate labelling dispute between EU Commission and Italy

A legal case that could set an important precedent over chocolate labelling within the EU is to be heard in the European Court of Justice. An Italian law allowing manufacturers to claim on labels they are selling "Cioccolato puro” (pure chocolate) for products containing only cocoa butter for fats breaks the EU s chocolate directive.


The EU regulation allows the addition of up to 5% vegetable fat in chocolate, an important right for UK and other manufacturers favouring this ingredient. But Italy adopted EU Directive 2000/36/EC with a law which is more restrictive than the original EU Directive on labeling rules as it mandates that only products containing 100% cocoa butter can be labeled as “Cioccolato puro” while other products can be labeled as chocolate.The Commission said the Italian law allowed claims effectively saying 100% cocoa butter chocolate was better and so "discriminated against" products authorised for sale in all member states.