July 11, 2018 Melodie Anton
You’re unwrapping your favorite chocolate bar when all of a sudden, surprise! It has turned…white? Read ahead to find out why your chocolate bar forms that unique, dusty film. (Spoiler alert, it’s still safe to eat!)
This white film does not mean the chocolate is moldy or has gone bad. It’s actually just a scientific process called “chocolate bloom”. There are two types of this bloom: sugar bloom and fat bloom.
Sugar bloom happens when moisture comes in contact with the chocolate - it dissolves the sugar crystals on the chocolate’s surface, leaving a white, powdery look.
Fat bloom occurs due to improper storing conditions, dramatic changes in temperature, or a poor tempering process. This bloom will give the chocolate a powdery, white-gray appearance and leave the bar soft in texture.
While all chocolatiers do their best to avoid this bloom, many do not have much control over the shipping conditions once the chocolates are on their way to the customers. The box may stay overnight in the carrier's warehouse where temperatures rise and fall dramatically, causing a bloom to occur.
Overall, it should be noted that chocolate bloom is not harmful to your health, hooray! You can carry on eating your well-deserved sweet. If the chocolate doesn’t taste up-to-par, it is still perfectly good to use for cooking or making hot cocoa.
Thinking of melting your bloomedchocolate? Use some our handcrafted chocolate bars made by artisanal chocolatiers from around the world!
Filed in: chocolate, faq, help, melted, mypanier, questions, recipes
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Comments
Molly - August 14, 2024I buy Ghirardelli and have found that the white bloom on the chocolate chips affects the flavor quite a bit. I guess I’ll just stop buying. I see no other option. I’ve been taking the item back to the grocery store but that’s getting old.
budd - November 1, 2023these individually wrapped chocolate candies almost always have this white cloudy appearance and the flavor is so bland…. they are brand name and a buy from the same store….should i just change stores?
Vickie - July 7, 2023Glad I looked this up. Was just about to throw away a pack of chocolate nuggets!
Anna - June 2, 2023I tempered milk and dark chocolate to make chocolate bars. When I extracted the bars from the silicone mold they had this white film here and there. After reading this article I realized that most probably I didn’t wait enough to let the silicone mold dry after rubbing it with alcohol. With polycarbonate molds nothing similar ever happened since I started working with chocolate 3 yrs ago.
Thank you for the information!
Floyd - June 2, 2023Is there a such thing as blooming white chocolate?
My white chocolate bars all of a sudden has brown spots on it?
April Stroup - June 2, 2023Thank you so much for that information. I just bought this Valentine candy the day after Valentine’s Day and open them and they have the white glaze on them. And they were going to expire in two months. I couldn’t understand why a manufacturer would send Valentine’s candy to a store to sell when it’s going to expiring in 2 months. But since everyone’s saying it’s okay to eat then I’m just going to keep them.
Connor - June 2, 2023Looked this up after I got a snickers from a sketchy laundromat vending machine I am eating it so wish me luck
Kenny - December 30, 2022Thank you so much for this information. I have wasted so much chocolate in the past thinking it had gone bad.
Breezy - December 30, 2022I’ve always been frustrated when seeing this ghostly film on my favorite chocolates. Was just about to cut uo a pear and warm it with a few chocolate caramels. (Saturday night blues medicine!), and there was what I now know is bloom. Can’t imagine why I waited so long to look into this! Chocolate +Caramel+Pear, all melty and warm – best cure! Thanks m!!!!
Carina - December 30, 2022Glad I read this. Was about to return two bars I just bought. If they lack in taste they’ll go in my coffee :)
