Cadbury Sparks Debate With Its Advice On Storing Chocolate

For some, there is nothing worse than when chocolate gets too warm and turns into a squishy, melty mess in your hands. For others, biting into a rock hard bonbon is the worst confectionery offense imaginable. 

Recently, chocolate company Cadbury set off a series of arguments on Twitter over the proper way to store your chocolate by replying to a Tweet soliciting the brand's advice. User Bruno Bouchet tweeted at the company's official Cadbury Australia account, asking for an ultimate ruling on how chocolate should be stored (via Delish). The brand replied that Cadbury customers should keep their chocolate in a cool, dry place at around 21 degrees Celsius, which is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Today. 

This innocent tweet spawned a massive Twitter argument, with each side of the debate insisting the way they prefer their chocolate stored is the correct way. Some even went as far as to suggest any chocolate not eaten immediately upon purchase should be kept in the freezer! 

To settle the matter themselves, Today went to an expert on all things sweet, pastry chef Rachel Walton. Walton explained that you should under no circumstances refrigerate chocolate or anything covered in chocolate, as this could lead to mold.

According to Serious Eats, chocolate (especially the nice, handmade kind) is best eaten straight after it's purchased. They state that the reason you are told not to refrigerate chocolate is because most chocolates generally do not have a very long shelf life, and when you remove chocolate from cold temperatures, the condensation can form sugar blooms, which are those unappealing, dull blotches you sometimes find on chocolate. 

If you must refrigerate or freeze your chocolate, you will have the best results with whole bars. Stored properly, milk chocolate generally has a shelf life of one year, and dark chocolate two. When freezing or refrigerating whole bars, make sure to seal your chocolate in an airtight container to avoid humidity. If you have chosen to freeze your chocolate, always thaw it in the fridge before bringing it up to room temperature. Going straight from the freezer to room temperature allows condensation to form on the outside of your chocolate, which affects the chocolate's texture and appearance. 

When bringing the chocolate from the fridge to room temperature, Serious Eats suggests you wrap your cold chocolate in a dish towel to even the rate at which the temperature changes throughout the candy and help wick away moisture. They assert that you should never eat chocolate straight from the fridge or freezer, as cold chocolate does not melt as well or taste as good as room temperature chocolate.