TheChocolateLife::LIVE – Chocolate Claims DEBUNKED

Some of the following claims are just plain technically wrong, some would be funny if people didn’t actually believe them, and some could be dangerous as they make claims that could, if followed, be detrimental to health and/or well-being.


Ecuadorian Arriba Criollo Cacao

What’s wrong in the following paragraph, taken from the website of an online retailer? (Ignore the redundancy, which is in the original.)

Sun Star Organics - Powered by Network Solutions.
Sun Star Organics is a manufacturer and distributor of high quality organic products.
BTW – It is my belief that my use of the screenshot from the Sun Star Organics website is covered under copyright fair use. Fair use for the purposes of criticism and education are an established right, not an affirmative defense. While it’s always a good idea to seek advice and counsel from a qualified attorney and not the Internet, this video, from actual copyright attorney Leonard French, does a good job of exploring fair use issues and the DMCA.

Who the F*** is David Avocado Wolfe – and How Many Batsh*t Crazy Things Does He Believe?

I did meet David in person in NYC in late-2009/early 2010. He is charismatic, I will give him that. That said, I have always wondered if David actually truly believes the things he says or if he knows it’s all a grift. David does have some apologists that try to rationalize/balance the positive impact he has had and continues to have, but I am not persuaded.

Did you, or anyone you know, buy a NutriBullet blender after watching the infomercial?
The link starts the video at 7:06 into the video, which is where DAW starts talking about chocolate – excerpts from the transcript below. This is also kind of meta in the sense that I am responding to someone else’s response video.

Stop the video at 7:20 and notice that the earth is depicted as being a flat disk. Huh. David Wolfe is a flat-earther, a globe-earth denier? Who’da thunk it?

David claims in this video that:

  • Chocolate lines up planetarily with the sun.
  • Chocolate is an octave of sun-energy! It’s the energy of the center of the sun.
  • It’s a male energy that comes down off the sun. Actually, out of all the plants, the cacao is right on line targeted at the center of sun which we call, in our body, the heart.
  • And actually cacao’s right up there with the center of the sun which is the center of the heart. Which is called the “Sacred Heart.”

I call BS on all of the above statements. All are assertions, and none of the assertions is falsifiable, let alone demonstrable. Believe these at your own risk.

Small world connection-ish maybe: From what I have been lead to understand, SunStar Organics assumed the cacao business and sources that David A Wolfe and colleagues developed.

The “Truth” About White Chocolate

Does White Chocolate Deserve to be Called Chocolate? - Truth in Advertising
When you sit down to savor the delicious bonbons you receive for Valentine’s Day, know this: white chocolate is neither white, nor chocolate.
Deserve? Deserve? “White chocolate is neither white, nor chocolate? What ...?”

Can/should we trust a self-labeled “Truth” source – “Truth in Advertising”? In this one instance, no. Which means we need to take all editorial claims in this vein (and on this site) with a grain of salt.

The page in the eCFR with the standard of identity for white chocolate – 163.124.

Yes, Virginia, There is Such a Thing as White Chocolate
Few places serve to perpetuate this myth more than the twin temples of theInternet: Twitter and Facebook. In this post we aim to set the record straightonce and for all … The most commonly mentioned argument raised in any discussion of whether whitechocolate is or is not chocolate

What Does “Belgian” in “Belgian Chocolate” Mean?

The more recent Godiva suit (“Hesse”) is something I am familiar with as I was retained to be an expert witness in the case, which was settled and never went to trial. I can be pretty confident about what Truth in Advertising is reporting here.

Godiva Chocolate - Truth in Advertising
Allegations: Falsely advertising that chocolates are made in Belgium when they are made in Pennsylvania
Godiva’s ‘Belgian’ Chocolates - Truth in Advertising
Made in Belgium? Think again.
Godiva Chocolates - Truth in Advertising
In January 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Godiva Chocolatier for allegedly falsely marketing that its chocolate products are made in Belgium when, according to the complaint, the chocolates…
Choprabisco
The website for a trade organization defining what Belgian Chocolate is.

(Re)Sources

Is Chocolate ¿Dangerous?
No. But, information *about* chocolate can be.
David Wolfe - World’s Most Dangerous Snake Oil Salesman?
Is David Avocado Wolfe the most successful snake oil salesman on earth? David Wolfe is an anti-vaxx, flat-earth, conspiracy theorist, hippie with 12 million ...
This is a link to a YouTube playlist – TheChocolateWire Curates ¿Dangerous? Videos. Some of these are covered in the post above.

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Do you have a claim you’d like to see debunked? Let us know in the comments.