Green & Blacks?

[everythingis]

Hi,
I have been told by many people that some of Green & Blacks chocolate bars are completely vegan. This is including the G & B Mint.

So while standing at in the line with my groceries in hand I boxes of them on the end caps and had to try one. The ingredients list seemed safe and so i added it to my grocery pile.

I ate some and was bored investigating the package and reading the inside and out and then my eyes scanned over the nutritional information and I saw:
"Cholesterol 4mg"
No I have been vegan for quite some time and I must be misinformed about cholesterol and vegan food but I was told that cholesterol was of strictly animal based origins.

At this point I put down the candy bar, and go to a little more research. Everywhere i look says that this candy bar is VEGAN. i also read that minuscule amounts of cholesterol derive from plants and fungi.
Still 4mg seems to be alot!

So my questions are:
Is Green and Black's Mint Bar Vegan? And where is the cholesterol deriving from?
and more importantly...
What are the main Vegan food sources of cholesterol? What are the health benefits of cholesterol, if any?

[RedWellies]

Unless you get a different version in the US, the mint bar is vegan. I can't help you about the cholesterol I'm afraid. I noticed it as being listed on something too (maybe it was the chocolate). I guess it can come from a non-animal source. There is saturated fat in the chocolate so maybe it comes from that? You could contact Green and Blacks and ask them; they are a helpful company.

[Kitteh]

Some of them say "Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans" others just say "Vegetarians". I have bought the mint one and it says suitable for Vegans (this is in Australia).

[Fuhzy]

There shouldn't be any cholesterol listed, and if there is some, then perhaps they are counting plant cholesterols? It really makes no sense...

[Roxy]

Maybe they've just made a mistake? Perhaps you could send them an email, and ask them - that'll get to the bottom of it.

[Knottykc]

G&B Mint is definitely vegan in the UK - it states 'suitable for vegetarians and vegans' on the back of the packet. Oh and it's v yummy! :)

[Darky_]

If an ingredient can come from Animals AND plants - even if rare, then I would trust it if it says suitable for Vegans (especially if it is from a trusted company like the vegan or Vegetarian society for example). :)

Green & Blacks choccy is nice. The Dark 'Divine' is also suitable or Vegans, it doesn't say, but i have heard it is.

[journey]

I would email the company and ask. But I've found that many of the better chocolates that our British friends rave about are not vegan in the US. It's very frustrating to find these great sounding bars that so many vegans on these forums rave about, and then read the ingredients labels.

Many in the US use milk products, and many use the forms of sugar that are vegan in the UK, but that use bone char in the US.

Sorry, don't know about US Green & Blacks mint, but just read the ingredients label - milk and regular sugar (not organic or raw) will likely be the main culprits you'll find in American chocolate bars. And if it's not vegan, keep looking - there are some that are. I found a really good one at REI, that was vegan and fair trade, but you really do have to read the ingredients.

[Darky_]

Tried Plamils Mint chocolate??? Now thats Vegan and tastes so good. MMmmmmm mint.... :umm_ani:

[cobweb]

agreed, darky, plamil choc is sooooo much better than nasty old G&Bs!

[xwitchymagicx]

G&B Mint is definitely vegan in the UK - it states 'suitable for vegetarians and vegans' on the back of the packet. Oh and it's v yummy! :)

Can't always trust that. :pissed_ani: Sometimes think put vegan on then have milk, honey in them!! :confused:

[bryzee86]

Anyway, they're not vegan now in the UK. Not sure whether the change is rolling our to the U.S.

http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19651

[Rakey]

I agree, Plamil's mint chocolate is amazingly delicious. The only problem is that the bar tends to disappear very quickly....

[jonnie falafel]

I know Plamils' company credentials are impeccable, but I think their chocolate is a disappointment. Here in the UK, there the Montezuma brand has some vegan varieties and it's an excellent quality chocolate. My favourite Montezuma is the Chilli Variety, but the Very Dark & Orange/Geranium are also lovely and vegan.

[fiamma]

Would it hurt you to write a positive post? Or do you just love spreading negativity?

[Manimal]

I must be misinformed about cholesterol and vegan food but I was told that cholesterol was of strictly animal based origins.

This was my understanding also. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Cherry]

Cholesterol can be found in plant cells too, just in much smaller quantities.

[bryzee86]

Would it hurt you to write a positive post? Or do you just love spreading negativity?

that was his most positive so far!

[horselesspaul]

that was his most positive so far!
hahaha.
Sometimes I find that Plamil chocolate has been stored in less than ideal conditions (a downside to supporting the mighty, small, local wholefood retailer?) but when it's treated right, it rules.

[harpy]

Plamil seems to have some new stuff out including a fairtrade bar - anyone seen these?

http://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/chocolate2.htm

'Tis a shame they don't make everything fairtrade while they're at it but I know it hikes up the cost.

[bradders]

and in america they do have some very nice choc we don't have here, ricemilk chocolate, someone needs to steal their factory for me and bring it to me.

This user is in no way recommending, supporting, encouraging or otherwise condoning any act of theft.

[RebeccaDye]

Hahah :D

[Manzana]

Just thought you guys would find interesting to know that Green and Blacks (as ethical and Organic and worried about consumers as they want the world to picture them) are noone else but Cadbury's in disguise:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-food-chain-how-big-business-bought-up-the-ethical-market-845854.html

Personally Plamil or Montezuma for me!

[horselesspaul]

"Green & Black's embodies this caring corporate culture. Founded in 1991 by Craig Sams and his wife Jo Fairley, the business set out to sell gourmet chocolate: organic (green) and high-cocoa (black). After they'd slogged away for years, the brand became a hit with discerning chocoholics. By 2005, though, Sams felt the business needed a sugar daddy to fund its expansion and help it compete with an emerging threat from organic rivals owned by Hershey and Mars' Seeds of Change. Cadbury, which had taken a 5-per-cent stake in Green & Black's in 2002 with an option to buy the rest in 2005, promised to run Green & Black's as a stand-alone operation.
Announcing the sale, Cadbury MD Todd Stitzer said the businesses shared "a passion for quality products and ethical values" although at the time Cadbury did not have a single organic or Fairtrade product. Buying Green & Black's gave it immediate ownership of the market leader in organic chocolate.
Cadbury acts like a management consultancy to its new subsidiary, supplying technical and legal advice, such as how to set up a factory in Canada or break into Japan. After being in debt for 30 years, Sams says the sale was good for him – and for Green & Black's.
Cadbury has built fermentation facilities in the Dominican Republic to allow growers to earn more from their beans and has challenged the level of pesticide use in Ghana. Green & Black's itself is also vastly bigger. "Green & Black's is generating more benefits in a month than it was in two years when we owned it," he says."


Not exactly Nestlé but still part of a global brand agenda.