Forum Activity for @James Hull

Hi,

thanks for the reply.

It sounds like a very good machine then. Thank you for sharing your view on it, its really helpful as for me being based in the UK these larger machines once shipped and customs sticking tax on it end up being very very expensive so chosing a good machine is crucial.

cheers,

James

Oh, understood.

I thought that maybe the chocolate starts to cool and solidify in the 10 hours and somehow the grinder is unable to start. (don't know its capacity/power)

Also thought you were referring to some other separate heating appliance.

Thank you,

I hope I understand your question: friction forces when the grinder operate bring the temperature up quickly, no other devices are needed

You can use something like this  or commission/build a custom micro controller (arduino/Rpi) with temperature sensors to trigger on/off events on a relay board automatically or remotely.

I'm curious that you mention taking the temperature of a grinder first but then you state that you leave the chocolate to cool and the "turn on" something to heat it back up?

Is it the grinder or other device/appliance? 

Hi,

Is there anybody who try to measure the temperature of the chocolate in the grinder and was able to control off/on button from afar like an application in the cell phone?

I'm asking this question because my way to temper the chocolate in the hot and humid area that I live in is to leave the chocolate inside in a place with a minimum of air flow and let it cool for around 10 hours to approximately 28C (depending in the chocolate type) in then turn it on again for about 30 minutes till I reach working temperature.

Control the device from cell phone will remarkably ease my life.

I will be happy to hear comments.

Thank's 

Cherub Chocolate business is for sale for $39,000

This is a rare opportunity to buy profitable and established business in downtown Nanaimo. It has been open since May 2013 with continuous growth and development. The business has a recognized name, established reputation and loyal clientele. We are emigrating soon as a family and sadly have to move on.

What you’re buying is growing and profitable business with an active store in downtown, high traffic area with a full commercial kitchen equipped with up to date tools and machinery. Active website www.cherubchocolate.com , active facebook page with 900+ customers.

The store has an on-site open concept kitchen and service area. The location of the store is in the core of downtown Nanaimo, on Commercial street with high pedestrian traffic from locals and tourists, opposite the art gallery. No competition in the area. Nearby all major hotels, Vancouver Island Conference center, Downtown farmers market, Diana Crull plaza, etc.

Training and support will be provided to ensure successful transition. One month with 4-6 hours daily practice to learn the necessary skills and 3 months of online support. Contact, suppliers, clients lists will be provided.

Our fantastic landlord is willing to extend the lease another five to seven years at the same rent.

The business is fully equipped with all the necessary tools, easy to manage and will last at least another 10 years. All equipment and tools are new or nearly new and in top condition and well cared for.

This business will be a great fit for somebody who enjoys being creative and being your own boss, excellent for retiring people or for somebody who is searching for the opportunity to relocate to the island.

We participate in all major food events and enjoy great local community support in downtown.

This business has established and loyal clientele base and even greater potential and opportunities which will be discussed with sales agreement.

You’re welcome to visit the store and try our product but please refrain from discussing the business sale with staff.

Non-disclosure and non-compete agreements to be signed prior to release further information.

No financing available, cash only. Only serious inquiries please. Business will be available for sale for a limited time only.

 

 1265522_280534958790159_8730264597985067866_o.jpg - 200KB

Hi James,

I've been using the small Santha 11 for a little over a year now, just for development purposes.  We recently upgraded to the Santha 100 as we prepare to launch our line of craft chocolates.

While I have not used it excessively to provide an in-depth review, I have found that the quality and performance of the Santha 100 has been good.  As Sandy mentioned, these are typically drop shipped from India so you will need to change out the plug yourself or have a qualified electrician do it for you.  This was something that was disclosed to me prior to purchase so was not a surprise.  I bought my unit from John Nanci at Chocolate Alchemy who was very helpful with support and setup.

Aside from size and power, there a couple major differences between the Santha 11 and Santha 100.

1.  The Santha 11 is belt driven whereas the Santha 100 model is chain driven.  This is a big plus as I had my belt shred on the 11 model.

2.  Speed controller.  The Santha 100 comes with a speed controller which can be very useful.  At very high speeds you may find some of the chocolate splashing out of the bowl.  The speed controller can help you to dial it down or up as needed.

3.  Tilting mechanism.  This is a must for the Santha 100.  Not only does it help with getting the chocolate out (I couldn't imagine picking the bowl up by hand) but it also helps with the cleaning process, making it very simple.

Hi Sandy,

Thanks so much for replying!

A very apt name for your salesman then, is on the same line as my dentist name being Dr Pulley.

I am glad you have had a good experience with the machine, as i havent had any experience with the santhas yet, only having small premier grinders. I have been wary of purchasing the santha grinder due to reviews of their smaller grinder machines are not all that brilliant, with people having problems with overheating, and the belts constantly breaking. But i believe their larger grinders use chain belts which should help?

The santha machines appear to be the only larger grinders available in the UK, which certainly goes in it favour, as otherwise it means paying a massive shipping cost with added customs and other taxes added if i were to buy a cocoatown, fbm, or the new large grinder from DCM who make my small premiers.

Thanks again for your insight, and hopefully other users will also add their experiences too

Thank you Gap.

I guess I will try and error with different amounts of vegetable oils...

I saw one of the Ghirardelli recipe for chocolate hazelnuts and according to the their ingredients I saw that they add 6% hazelnuts of the total weight of the product, that means ~3% vegetable oil.

If other forum memebers have empiric knowledge about vegetable fat addition I will love to learn..

We actually made the move from CocoaTown small melangers to the Santha 40 in the last few months. It has been the best move we've made in our 3 year company's history. The machine has been a reliable tool that has increased our production capacity and lowered our stress level.

I would, however, advise you to NOT buy it through HotDishes. Our salesman's name was Sham, which is defined as "something it does not appear to be." That was exactly who we got. They sent a machine from India to the USA which came with a plug that was only usable in Europe and then refused to fix it. This should not be an issue for you, but be sure you do not get one that's only set for the USA.

Overall, the Santha 40 has been a great machine. Since we got it out of the box we've had no maintenance or repair issues and the stone-on-stone grinding has produced greatly smooth chocolates.

I hope this has been more helpful than not.

Adding fats generally softens the chocolate. You work out the % of fat based on weight.

For instance, if your formula has 10% full fat milk powder (assume 26% fat content), then the milk fat in your formula = 10% x 26% = 2.6% milk fat.

In terms of non-fats and tempering: I don't think non-fat ingredients (eg., skim milk powder) would affect tempering. I imagine it as a solid-type ingredient that just displaces sugar in your formula and gets ground up/refined with all of your other ingredients. This is just a hypothesis from my side, I've no testing or evidence to back it up.

If you want to sell your product and call it chocolate, there may well be limits to what additional fats and non-fats you can use and how much of them you can use.

In terms of other fats, I haven't used them. I would expect them to soften chocolate. I'm not sure how much, say, vegetable fat, you can add to normal chocolate before you turn it into compound chocolate. Most things I've read suggest 4-5% before you start affecting your ability to temper, but this probably differs based on the fat you are using. And as mentioned above, I think some fats can't be added to chocolate if you want to sell it as chocolate.

For some reason I have in my head that, as a rule of thumb, you should try and keep the additional milk fat from milk powder to <15% of total fat (ie., total fat = cocoa butter + additional fat) to minimise any problems with tempering. I'm sure that isn't a hard rule and depends on what type of milk powder you're adding, but it might give you a starting point for testing. So for a 40% fat chocolate, that would give an upper limit of 6% (40% x 15%) milk fat. If your milk powder was 26%, then the milk powder in your recipe would have an upper limit of 6%/26% = 23% milk powder by weight in the total formula.

When I have made milk chocolate, I have added ~5% milkfat but have taken it as high as 6.5% - it depends what you're after from your milk chocolate. 

Hi,

A few months ago I went through all the relevant topics in this forum and in Alchemy forum. I don't remember a lot threads regarding this subject.

I found two:

http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/thread/460/hazelnut-ratio

http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/thread/106/nuts-chocolate

In essence, vegetable oil (like hazelnuts)  is liquid in room temperature not like butterfat, so whole milk powder is different from nuts oil.

I just want the experience of people because this issue is a bit vague, how do you count the ratio of the additional fat: by weight or just the ratio to cacao butter? what is the limit of vegetable oil that transform the product from chocolate to kind of nut center?

The questions is aiming also to the final product not just the tempering.

If you have addtional knowlenge to contribute I will be more then happy.

Thank's again

Hi Everyone,

I am now at the stage of looking to upgrade from my several tabletop premier grinders, to one machine that will handle much more chocolate, and with room to 'grow into'.

Not a lot available here in the UK apart from the Santha machines. I am looking at the Santa 65 the 100, but reading reviews on here about the smaller santhas have got me wondering if these are the right units to be look at.

So any reviews, tips, thoughts, recommendations would be brilliant.

I am also looking at a commercial grinder from the makers of the small premier units (Diamond Custom Machines) so if anyone has also used one of these and could let me know how they got on that would be great.

Thanks,

James

Ask the manufacturer. But generally, no. 

We are looking for a small machine which can wrap chocolate disks (coins) using 2 pieces of foil. Both sides would have to be completely flat for our client to emboss their patterns. Ideally, it would be fully automated, use single phase electricity and fit on a table top.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

We have 2 of these units available. There is also a 3rd Granite Roller Stone and Stainless Steel Vessel available which would make a great backup set to reduce downtime between runs.

These were purchased in early 2014 and are no longer needed as our business has expanded and we now have larger machinery filling this role. They have been a great building block for our business.

Our products are allergen-free so these machines have not been used with any dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, nuts or tree nuts.

From the CocoaTown website description:

18” x 10” x 11” tall – melanger
1/5 HP 110V single phase motor
Weight – 35 lbs (dimensional wt for shipping – 50 lbs)
Grinds up to 8 lbs of cocoa liquor (nibs +sugar + etc)
High quality Stainless steel vessel
Conical granite roller stones
Granite stone for grinding surface
Injection molded ABS plastic body – quiet in operation

Melangers have been used for the following:
Grind almond pieces into Marcepan
Grind hazel nut pieces into Gianduja
Grind pistachios pieces into pistachio butter
Grind Cashew pieces into cashew butter
Grind sesame seeds into tahini
Grind boiled chick peas into hummus
Grind flax seeds into paste
Grind Sphagnum moss for facial pack
Grind quinoa

These sell new for $600 each. We're asking $500 for both and the extra bowl/wheel set - plus shipping.

Call 512-410-5763 and ask for Sandy if interested.

 small melanger.JPG.jpg - 1.6MB

I think you'll find those topics have been answered a few times here.  I'd urge you to do some exploring in the forum archives 8-)

Hello, hello @Mattworks -

I went through quite a bit of labeling designs and guidelines under the scrutiny of lawyers and I'd love to pass on just a few tid-bits for where we got caught up so you don't make the same mistakes.

I'm sure there are brands that violate these, but this is what our lawyer caught.

Be careful using the word "with" as in chocolate "with" almonds as this has a special 10% of DV meaning to the FDA and most inclusions don't have a DV level. You can use "and" instead.

In packages with multiple pieces the minimum serving size for chocolate is 32 g. This means if you have a 14 g piece, your serving size is 3 pieces. Only way around this is to package them for individual sale.

For calories- you must round to the nearest 10 calories for values over 50 calories.

Be very careful on any claims on packaging and also your certification strategy. I believe you can be over certified which throws up a lot of red tape and may not even matter to your customers.

If interested in having your packaging reviewed reach out to:

Evelyn Cadman
Principal Consultant
303-432-1605
www.BioTransApp.com
www.FDALabels.com

It's expensive but if you are doing large runs of packaging it's worth it.

Of course as Clay said, if you are under $100k in revenue you will be exempt/ overlooked for a lot of these regulations.

I'm seeing that most used are heat seal, is it an issue?

[quote="Clay Gordon"]

A flow wrap machine uses rolls of film.

[/quote]

Is cold seal most recommended? 

I want to ask a tricky question/issue:

If you dig inside the "bean to bar" or artisan small scale business (or even some big manufacture chocolate producers) you find two main different kinds of ways to give a special taste to the chocolate (not infusion):

1. mixing additional fat in chocolate: coconut, sesame, hazelnuts and more (even whole milk powder)

2. additional ingredients that not including fats: non fat powder milk, spices etc

After this small briefing I have two questions:

1. How the non-fat ingredients effect tempering? for example if I put skim milk powder how it will affect?

2. As I know, as a rule of thumb more then 5% additional fat will affect tempering, what is your experience with addinal fat?

I would like to hear your opinion,

Thank's

Could someone explain in detail how to obtain a sugar coating on the outside?

what the exact ratio of sugar glucose etc and the right temperature? 

Also I would like to create the stone pebble effect too if thats possible.

Here are some awesome panned nuts 

/www.dragees-adam.fr/

www.muccigiovanni.it/

especially the muccigiovanni line is awsome

Perhaps they will now develop new packaging and labels to go with the new factory?

Clearly, flying 'close to the Sun' is their business model?  Not a good idea if your a chocolate maker or any kind of food company,  but actually MB aren't the only ones,  just apparently one that's blatant in terms of dodging some of the requirements?  

All fun and games, until someone suffers a serious allergy issue or there's a State / Federal recall issued as part of investigation of a food borne illness /allergy complaint. 

If I was a potential investor in this business or any other craft maker, I'd have required FDA label compliance as part of the due diligence before funding an operation that is designed to produce millions of bars and place them in interstate commerce.  In particular, as I know having purchased a very expensive policy that liability / recall insurance doesn't cover a claim if selling misbranded / mislabeled goods and most knowledgeable retailers wouldn't be prepared to stock the products either.

More generally, I'd question how many craft chocolate makers making and selling in the USA are fully FDA compliant?    I suspect there are a few that aren't and probably don't even know they are required to register with FDA etc?   The lack of funds for Federal agencies like the FDA means they don't do proactive enforcement, their model for food related issues is to come in after the problem and tackle GMP and other issues that relate to food safety.   Not likely to change anytime soon, so many firms just carry on as usual,  knowing the risk of action is rather low absent a consumer or public health complaint.

Mark -

The way the rules have been read to me is that a product can be equated to a recipe. a 70% Dominican is one product, a 70% PNG another, and an 85% Dominican a third.

With respect to units, a 200gr bar counts as 5, 40gr bars. So 100, 200gr bars counts as 500 units because of the 40gr unit's availability. With 25+ grinders in NYC alone making as much as 80MT of chocolate/year, that's over 2,000,000 units/year. Assuming fewer than 20 recipes/products, then many if not all of them should be sporting nutrition labels - from the NY factory alone. Add in London (as is required by law) then pretty much everything should be.

Any way you look at it, it seems obvious that the MB should no longer eligible for the small business exemption. And it seems likely that they should not have been eligible to apply for the exemption that expires in 2016, but did so, anyway.

To me, this seems to be a continuation of the same arrogant, "The rules don't apply to us. Because, Mast Brothers." attitude that led them to be less-than-forthcoming about melting Valrhona early on. There is no reason why they cannot (and should not) be in compliance with the labeling laws today because they clearly have the financial resources to do so; compliance would not unduly burden them. Whatever their attitude towards openness and transparency (right?) it does not appear to extend to proper labeling. They could lead by example - do the right thing just because it's the right thing to do. But they still choose not to. 

One theory? The nutrition labels "ruin" the aesthetic.

What's up with that, anyway? 

As we both wrote Organic on the Front LABEL.... Certification required.  Apparently for the  FDA ingredient panel only: something like:    Cacao*, Cane sugar*,  Cocoa Butter*      *organic  is acceptable..... However,  it's not much of a marketing hook printed in 1/16" type on the back of bar and you can't mention 'contains organic ingredients' on the rest of the packaging.    

The cost of certification might be something to investigate, think you will find it may not be as expensive as you think, but does require good record keeping and annual inspection in most States.

I have an update about my Organic Ingredients question. I contacted www.ccof.com to inquire about oOrganic certification and they told me I did not require certification for what I want to do. I quote from their email response:

"If all you want to do is list the organic ingredients in the FDA-required ingredient list, and not use the word organic anywhere else on your label, you do not need to be certified."

This is what I thought and was surprised by County Health Department when they told me I could not. 

The warranty is not transferable. The machine is in mint condition.

These have been discontinued by the CK a while back and nobody seems to make a bar mold like it.  We will buy whatever number you have.  ilya@luvicecream.com

 90-5707 mold.JPG.jpg - 706KB

Thomas, I think the advice you were given by CDPH is correct. Specifically: Organic Chocolate is regulated food product in California, rules enforced by CDPH,  think you will find if your gross sales are over $5000 and you have organic in your label (even made with organic...) you are required to register  see:

ORGANIC OVERSIGHT - LAWS AND REGULATIONS:

Laws relating to the handling of organic foods are codified in the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, the California Organic Products Act of 2003 (COPA), and the National Organic Program (NOP) Regulations (which California adopts).

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) work cooperatively with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enforce the organic regulations within California.  CDPH oversees processors and handlers of organic food, pet food, and cosmetics, and CDFA oversees organic agricultural production, milk and dairy food processing, meat and poultry processing, and retail organic production activities.

If an operation’s annual gross sales of organic food is greater than $5,000 they are required to obtain certification from an accredited third party certifier, who will verify the sourcing of the agricultural inputs, verify the organic content of processed products, and ensure that operations are conforming with NOP regulations

Organic is a term that indicates that the food or agricultural product has been produced using sustainable practices and without synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, or genetic engineering.  Products may be labeled “100% organic”, “organic” or “made with organic.” 

Food products labeled as “100% organic” must consist entirely of organic ingredients; food products labeled “organic” must consist of 95% certified organic ingredients; and food products labeled “made with organic” must contain at least 70% certified organic ingredients (minus water and salt).  Food products containing 95% or more organic content may use the USDA Organic Logo on their product labels or advertising.  Unless exempted or excluded under the National Organic Program (NOP) rules, all organic food products must be certified by an accredited certifying agency (ACA), and the ACA must be identified on the product label.

Does one need to be Organic certified in order to note an ingredient as Organic? I know you have to be certified to say 'Organic' or 'Made with Organic Ingredients', or use the USDA Organic symbol on the front label. I thought anyone can list an ingedient as Organic if the ingredient is certified. I'm in California and have been told by someone at the health department that I can't unless I'm certified. Although I have seen other chocolates labeled this way and I do not think they were certified producers. I've read lots of info on the FDA website and it seems to me that I should be able to do so. However, California has its own Organic certification as well. Just thought I would post the question here in case anyone on this forum knows. Thanks.

Interestingly, the Mast Bros have an FDA exemption filed which expires 11/05/2016.

The current FDA guidance pasted below, as I thought it might be interesting to some, actually raises some other questions.... Retailer exemption,  versus small wholesaler and product type.

Upon reading the rule it appears that sales of more than 100,000 units per year triggers a requirement for the mandated labeling.   A lawyer specializing in FDA regs could perhaps argue that each type of bar warrants an exemption as a different item, but personally I think knocking out several hundred thousand bars a year under the same brand name is probably the point at which you will need to start nutritional labeling.

Section 403(q) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires that packaged foods and dietary supplements bear nutrition labeling unless they qualify for an exemption.

Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR) 101.9(j)(1) and 21 CFR 101.9(j)(18) outline the requirements for a small business nutrition labeling exemption for foods. The small business nutrition labeling exemption requirements for dietary supplements are outlined in 21 CFR 101.36(h)(1) and 21 CFR 101.36(h)(2).

The nutrition labeling exemptions found in 21 CFR 101.9(j)(1) and 21 CFR 101.36(h)(1) apply to retailers with annual gross sales of not more than $500,000, or with annual gross sales of foods or dietary supplements to consumers of not more than $50,000. For these exemptions, a notice does not need to be filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The nutrition labeling exemptions for low-volume products found in 21 CFR 101.9(j)(18) and 21 CFR 101.36(h)(2) apply if the person claiming the exemption employs fewer than an average of 100 full-time equivalent employees and fewer than 100,000 units of that product are sold in the United States in a 12-month period. For these exemptions, a notice must be filed annually with FDA.

If a person is not an importer, and has fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees, that person does not have to file a notice for any food product with annual sales of fewer than 10,000 total units.

A "product" is a food or dietary supplement in any size package; which is manufactured by a single manufacturer or which bears the same brand name; which bears the same statement of identity, and which has similar preparation methods.

A "unit" is a package, or if unpackaged, the form in which the product is offered for sale to consumers.

A "firm" includes all domestic and international affiliates.

That's a lot of chocolate bars, estimating they will need to shift at least 35,000 bars a month to generate that sort of gross profit, let alone get a return on investment.  The FDA annual sales cut off  for labeling exemption is $500k total, I believe.  Clearly, as you mention the turn over is going to be way above.  Actually, the MB aren't the only US based craft maker ramping up sales volume.  Resultantly, I'd predict that all craft makers can increasingly expect FDA enforcement action on misbranded / deficiently labelled product, particularly if any food borne illness or undeclared allergy issues occur.  

The 2016 introduction of the FDA's FSMA act brings us all further into their viewfinder, even small firms will need to take steps to implement the required sourcing controls in 2017 - 18. The FSMA was in part a response to salmonella outbreaks (all be it salad and peanut related) but given that raw cacao is an imported item that can be be a source of salmonella sp.,  we will need to deal with the requirements of the FSMA.   

Interestingly, MB  also now make / sell bars in my old home town, London UK.  The existing EU labeling rules would apply to them in the UK I assume?   Don't craft makers in the UK have to label per EU rules?   Anyone bought a MB UK bar recently, does it have the required nutritional / allergy and best by info I wonder?  

For point of reference, I'm looking at some Willie's Cacao bars my wife brought me home from a recent UK trip, full ingredient and nutritional panel / allergy warning and production lot date and best by date.    Isn't this minimum required?   

Thoughts / comments

The Selmi One was just ordered and received a few months ago, and the Plus is just over a year old. The Selmi One is a Single phase, and the Plus is a Three phase with a converter that we purchased. Both machines work beautifully, look perfect, and have never had a problem. They both come with their detachable vibrating tables.

Sale Prices:

Selmi Plus - $12,500 (includes converter)

Selmi One - $8,900

Contact olivia@bkchocolate.com if you're interested or have any questions.

Is the warranty transferable?

It is. I'm in Portland OR. Give me a call @ 503-896-0614

Hi Steven, is the EZTemper still available? If so, where are you located? Thanks. Quinn.

Hello Jean,

Yes the multiSPRAY and volumeSPRAY can be used to spray on large pans, avoiding waste of material and saving time, compared to brushing or other methods.

Our volumeSPRAY also comes with a suction tube extension, that can provide a direct feed from a large floor container.

Hope this helps but if you have any further questions, just let me know.

Kind regards,

KREA Swiss

I'm not an expert on food safe materials but my understanding is: A material is food safe if it does not react or leach unsafe chemicals, or unsafe levels, into the food. For example, Food cans are coated on the inside with a food safe material so that the contents do not react with the metal can. Otherwise, one would not only ingest the food, but also some of the elements of the can itself. Here's a link to some info by the FDA: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/ucm064166.htm.

This discussion brings up a question I have had for a long time:  What exactly determines if a container or a substance is food-safe?  What, for example, makes polycarbonate molds food-safe?  Stainless steel bars used for slabbed ganaches?  One food wrap vs. another?  A plastic sold as a tablecloth vs. a similar plastic sold as a tarp?  In the particular question in this thread, why would the tin not be food-safe?  I have not been able to find definitive information on this topic.

Clay - Thanks so much for your time and answer! Good question about the tin...I'll have to think on that one. 

Thanks again for your feedback, much appreciated!

The Bros  announced that they're leasing 65,000 square feet inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s $68 million Green Manufacturing Center. [ Gothamist got it wrong, saying that the Bros had signed a 68 million dollar lease. ]

Anyone have thoughts on what this means for the craft bean-to-bar chocolate community? 

The 6,000SF DTLA factory is not quite ready to rock, as apparently they don't have all the permits necessary to start production. I did a back-of-the-napkin calculation based on the number of grinders I could see in the photos posted on the Instagram account for their launch party, estimated salaries for the number of employees reported (about 15), and a reasonable ground rent based on comparables in the Arts District , and it looks like they need to generate a gross profit  (not gross sales) of north of $100k/mo to break even.

The investors have deep pockets and a corresponding appetite for risk. I wonder if they realize that they no longer qualify for the FDA small business nutrition labeling exemption and will act accordingly. I know it doesn't match their design aesthetic, but that's not an argument/excuse.

If there were just a few errors in grammar and translation it would be one thing. But the errors appear on every page, often many times on the same page.

But, far more troubling are the factual errors and the editorial inconsistencies that are present throughout the book.

You may like and enjoy the book and find it useful. I won't say anything to negate your experience of the book. I am sharing my impressions and insights that (as a published author) it's really hard to do a book at this scale with very little help. The results show that there was very little help, and the book - and the chocolate community - suffers from that lack.