Is dark chocolate vegan?

Dark chocolate can be vegan, but it is not automatically vegan. Pure dark chocolate is made from cacao, cocoa butter and sugar, none of which come from animals. The problem is what gets added: milk fat, milk powder or whey, and production on shared equipment.

What makes dark chocolate vegan

A vegan dark chocolate contains only plant ingredients. Look for cacao mass, cocoa butter, a plant based sweetener such as coconut sugar, and flavour such as vanilla and sea salt.

• Cacao mass (also called cocoa mass or cocoa liquor)
• Cocoa butter, the natural fat of the cacao bean
• Sugar or coconut sugar
• Sunflower or soy lecithin, a plant emulsifier

What to watch for on the label

Milk ingredients are the obvious flag. The subtler ones are anhydrous milk fat, butter oil, whey powder, casein and lactose. Check the allergen statement as well. If it says the product may contain milk, it was probably made on equipment shared with milk chocolate. That does not make the recipe non vegan, but strict vegans and anyone with an allergy may prefer to avoid it.

The ingredient list tells you the recipe. The allergen line tells you the factory.

Does higher cacao mean more vegan?

Not necessarily. A high percentage tells you how much of the bar is cacao, not whether milk was added. A 70 percent bar can still contain milk fat, while a 55 percent bar can be fully plant based.

Where AORAH fits

The AORAH 62% Signature Blend is made with cacao mass, coconut sugar, cocoa butter, natural vanilla extract and sea salt. It is vegan and gluten free, and the full ingredient list is always on the product page.