Valentine’s Day = Cordial Cherries – What’s Inside?

My husband reads Wired magazine (to my benefit, he’s somewhat of a tech geek) and he recently passed on an article about what’s inside a Queen Anne Cordial Cherry.  I grew up eating these, since they were a favorite treat of my Mom’s on Valentine’s Day.  Before you indulge in your next chocolate covered cherry, be aware of what is waiting inside.

1.       Maraschino Cherry – plump and juicy, a result of infusion with water, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup.

2.      Red Dye #40 – one of the most commonly used food dyes, with possible increased risk of cancer, hyperactivity, and allergies.  Yet it is on the approved FDA list of food colorings.

3.      Sulfur Dioxide – used to preserve the color of the cherry, but it may trigger asthma attacks in some individuals.

4.      Sugar – this is an obvious ingredient, the viscous center is very sweet.

5.      Invertase – a digestive enzyme derived from yeast, but also found in saliva and the small intestine.  It is added to digest the sucrose (sugar) slurry so that it remains gooey (forever, I think).

6.      Vanillin – a synthetic version of real vanilla.

7.      PGPR – Polyglycerol polyricinoleate – used to emulsify the milk chocolate so that it can be spread more thinly to save costs.  This is done at the expense of cocoa butter. Need I say more?

8.     Milk Chocolate Coating – made of sugar, cocoa butter, milk, and chocolate liquor.  Doesn’t sound so bad after the previous three ingredients.

For many like my Mom, chocolate covered cherries a tradition on Valentine’s.  I still think of them fondly from the many years that my siblings and I bought them for my Mom. 

Now that I am older and wiser, I care about what is in the food I eat, even if it is something I eat only once a year.   While I still love both chocolate and cherries, I prefer them separately without the artificial ingredients.  This year I will eat some high quality dark chocolate and delicious dried cherries.Another good option: the dark chocolate covered cherries from Chukar Cherries (http://www.chukar.com/product/Dark_Chocolate_Cherries7/chocolate-cherries-berries-and-nuts).  The ingredients: a dried Bing cherry dipped in seamless dark chocolate. No additives, no preservatives, just cherries and dark chocolate at their finest.