2007 brought a few shake-ups to the world of chocolate, probably the biggest being that The Chocolate Manufacturers Association tried to get the FDA to relax rules about what can be called chocolate and allow for the use of artificial fats instead of cocoa butter. Thankfully, that looks to have not passed thanks to sites like DontMessWithOurChocolate.com.
A few posts here at Chocolate Bytes touched on a few issues that were important to a lot of people as well:
~ Hands down the most popular post here this year is still Hershey’s planned move to Mexico [and part two]. A lot …read more

For those interested in the chocolate-eating squirrel from earlier in the week, reader Minna dug up an actual picture of the little guy in action:

From here. Thanks, Minna!

I couldn’t help but think this story, from Helsinki, Finland, was pretty cute:
A Finnish squirrel with a sweet tooth heads to a Finnish grocery shop at least twice a day to steal “Kinder Surprise” chocolate-shelled eggs.
The confectionary, which is intended for children, has a toy inside.
“It removes the foil carefully, eats the chocolate and leaves the store with the toy,” Irene Lindroos said.
Chocolate for dogs and cats can be toxic, but in very low amounts it’s not bad for rodents and can even help relieve respiratory problems. Our pet rat gets about half of a chocolate chip now and then …read more