'I quit ultra-processed food and gave up milk chocolate for 99% cocoa - I won't go back'

We're all guilty of indulging in ultra-processed foods such as ice cream, sandwich meats, sausages, crisps, mass-produced bread, cereal, biscuits and fizzy drinks.

According to The British Heart Foundation, ultra-processed foods are bad for you as they often contain high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar leaving less room in our diets for more nutritious foods.

It can be extremely hard to cut out ultra-processed foods due to their deliciousness and convenience, however, an Editor from Wales Online decided to cut them out at the start of 2024 and has now shared his journey.

Steffan shared: "At the start of 2024 I quit ultra-processed food to see what impact it would have on my health. You can read about that in more depth here but, in short, I lost weight and my body shape changed.

"I immediately went cold turkey on cutting out UPFs and haven't looked back in eight months. And while I've generally not struggled to go without any particular food (in fact, I now actively don't want some things I used to eat) there is one food I have missed: chocolate."

The majority of mass-produced chocolate available in supermarkets epitomises ultra-processed food. These can be broadly defined as highly modified foods that often contain excessive amounts of salt, sugar, fat and industrial chemical additives.

Take Cadbury's Dairy Milk for instance - this is the list of ingredients it contains (this isn't just about Dairy Milk, it's standard for such products):

• Sugar
• Cocoa butter
• Cocoa mass
• Vegetable Fats (palm, shea)
• Emulsifiers (E442, E476)
• Flavourings

Dark chocolate is a distinct product. In some instances, the difference may be minor, with the chocolate bar still containing a similar list of ingredients and clearly being a similarly ultra-processed product.

However, other dark chocolates will have a significantly shorter ingredient list. The simplest way to identify a chocolate bar with fewer ingredients is by looking at its cocoa percentage.

The higher the percentage, the more cocoa (a natural product) it contains, and the less added sugar and other ingredients. A 75 percent cocoa content is a good starting point, as it ensures there's more cocoa than anything else, although this does leave 25 percent for other ingredients.

Indeed, chocolate can be beneficial for your health. According to Zoe, the science and nutrition programme, "moderate amounts of minimally processed, high-quality dark chocolate may also be good for your health".

Cocoa powder is rich in polyphenols, and micronutrients found in many plant-based foods that are believed to help protect against chronic health conditions. They have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

However, to reap these benefits from chocolate bars, you need a high cocoa content (Zoe recommends "look for good quality dark chocolate with 70 percent or greater cocoa content for the highest levels of polyphenols").

The majority of milk chocolate readily available in supermarkets is ultra-processed, laden with added sugar and industrial chemical additives. Sugar often tops the ingredient list in a milk chocolate bar, even before cocoa.

The Dairy Milk bar mentioned earlier contains six ingredients, including emulsifiers and flavourings. On the other hand, a dark chocolate bar with a high percentage of cocoa will have fewer ingredients.

For instance, the Lindt Excellence Dark 99 percent Cocoa bar has just four ingredients: cocoa mass, fat-reduced cocoa, cocoa butter, and demerara sugar.

So, how does 99 percent dark chocolate taste?

Steffan shared: "I actually chose the Lindt Excellence Dark 99 percent Cocoa bar mentioned above to break my eight-month chocolate fast. Before eating, I ran its barcode through my Zoe app. Interestingly, it actually classified it as ultra-processed.

"However, I took that to mean the industrial processes the cocoa has been through in turning it into a chocolate bar, as opposed to the addition of lots of industrial chemicals, and decided on balance that this meant it was OK to eat."

He added: "I had read online about what to expect. Cocoa in its natural state is, of course, much more bitter than milk chocolate and what I read made me worried it would taste horrible. But I also read that you should let a small square melt on your tongue slowly and that the flavours worked even better with coffee.

"The Lindt 99 percent bar weighs 50g and is made up of 21 squares — that's 2.4g a square. I broke one off and placed it on my tongue then let it melt. I loved it. It took a little while to kick in, then it exploded with flavour. Yes, there was bitterness, but then the natural creaminess and chocolatey mouth feel came through strongly.

"And it tasted really strongly of chocolate (yes, I know that sounds stupid). I then tried a square with a little sip of coffee to see if that really did boost the flavour and it absolutely did. The aftertaste lasted a long while too, mellowing pleasantly with time."

He concluded: "You can't just endlessly gorge on dark chocolate, but I'm really glad I took the plunge and took this route back to chocolate. A little 2g square on my tongue rounds off a meal perfectly."