Milk Chocolate
Milk Chocolate is a chocolate-based food product which is so popular, it has become known sometimes as simply "chocolate," even though it is only one of several chocolate products.
History
In 1887, a Swiss man who worked for the Nestlé factory in Vevey, Switzerland named of Daniel Peter created solid milk chocolate. At the time, Peter named this product "Gala" which in Greek means "from the milk." His product was been adapted by various people and companies, but his Gala Chocolate was an unquestioned success. It blossomed into a product known and manufactured around the world, and Daniel Peter retained his job at Nestlé into his 90's.[1]
Usage
Milk Chocolate is often eaten by itself as a bar or candy of various other shapes. It is also sometimes coated with a thin layer of candy, so that if it melts, it is not as likely to make a mess. However, it is also used in a number of baked confections, although sometimes semi-sweet (a.k.a. bitter-sweet) chocolate is used instead, since milk chocolate has a low melting temperature. Milk chocolate can be found in various ice cream products, and many other places, also. It is probably the most commonly used kind of chocolate.
Regulations
Although there are some exceptions,[2] milk chocolate in the United States generally is required to contain:
- 10% chocolate liquor
- 3.7% milk fats
- 12% milk solids
In the European Union, the minimum cocoa solids content is over twice this, at 25%. However, an exception exists for the United Kingdom, Malta, and Ireland, which allows the trade of milk chocolate with a 20% cocoa content.[3] Due to the minimum consistently being at least twice that of the U.S., European chocolate is considered by many to be of better quality than its American counterpart.