Hydrogenated Milk Fat as an Inhibitor of the Fat Bloom Defect in Dark Chocolate

The effectiveness of hydrogenated milk fat as an inhibitor of the fat bloom defect in dark chocolate was compared to unhydrogenated milk fat.Under accelerated test conditions involving controlled cycling of temperature during storage, coatings with 2.5% of hydrogenated milk fat remained free of fat bloom two to four times longer than did chocolate containing an equal amount of nnhydrogenated milk fat, a recognized bloom inhibitor.Fully hydrogenated milk fat was more effective than partially hydrogenated milk fat.Trials in which concentrations of hydrogenated milk fat were varied up to 3% by weight showed that as the amount of additive in the coating increased, a corresponding decrease occurred in bloom susceptibility.As measured by a compression testing ihstrument, adding hydrogenated milk fat had a slight softening effect on chocolate in excess of that attributable to the higher fat content.However, the coating was firmer than chocolate containing an equal amount of unhydrogenated milk fat.