Protein & Nutrition Blog – Marmels
Protein & Nutrition Blog – Marmels
Compound Chocolate vs Real Chocolate: How to Tell Them Apart
by Mo Mandegar, PhD
on Aug 25 2026
Bite into a chocolate-covered pretzel that feels faintly waxy and youhave met compound chocolate without being told its name. The wholedifference is one ingredient: cocoa butter, which melts near 34 degreesCelsius, versus a cheaper palm or coconut fat that does not. UnitedStates Food and Drug Administration standards keep the word "chocolate"off the front of the package when that swap happens. Here is what theregulation requires, and three checks that settle it in seconds.
Protein & Nutrition Blog – Marmels
How Much Sugar Is in Dark Chocolate?
by Mo Mandegar, PhD
on Aug 20 2026
Two bars on the same shelf both say "dark chocolate." One is 47% cacaoand one is 72%, and the first holds roughly twice the sugar. Thepercentage on the front of the wrapper is a sugar ceiling in disguise:70-85% cacao averages about 24 grams of sugar per 100 grams, while45-59% averages 49. Here is the full breakdown by tier, what thosegrams mean against a daily budget, and the three things the percentagewill not tell you.
