Overview

• Profeco’s August Revista del Consumidor tested and rated 32 products sold as chocolate en polvo or chocolate-flavored beverage mixes under Mexico’s NOM-186-SSA1/SCFI-2013 standards.
• Regulations require at least 18 % cocoa solids and 1.8 % cocoa butter for a product to bear the chocolate en polvo label, with non-compliant items mandated to display “sabor a chocolate” equally prominently.
• All items labeled chocolate en polvo met the minimum cocoa and cocoa-butter thresholds, while many flavored mixes marketed as chocolate failed to follow naming and ingredient rules.
• Child-oriented beverage powders were found to use non-caloric sweeteners without mandatory “not recommended for children” warnings and in some cases understate net weight on their labels.
• Price per 100 g varied widely from MXN 8 to MXN 88, with higher-cocoa and sugar-free formulations commanding the highest premiums.