# Buttermilk chocolate — What a food must legally contain to use its name: FDA standards of identity, in one table

For Buttermilk chocolate, cfr section is 21 CFR 163.135; category (cfr part) is Cacao Products; composition requirements is The finished buttermilk chocolate contains less than 3.39 percent by weight of milkfat and not less than 12 percent by weight of sweet cream buttermilk solids; what separates it from neighbours is The optional dairy ingredients are limited to sweet cream buttermilk, concentrated sweet cream buttermilk, dried sweet cream buttermilk, and any combination of these, recorded from its source on 2026-08-11.

- **CFR section:** 21 CFR 163.135 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Standardized food:** Buttermilk chocolate _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Category (CFR part):** Cacao Products _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Composition requirements:** The finished buttermilk chocolate contains less than 3.39 percent by weight of milkfat and not less than 12 percent by weight of sweet cream buttermilk solids _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **What separates it from neighbours:** The optional dairy ingredients are limited to sweet cream buttermilk, concentrated sweet cream buttermilk, dried sweet cream buttermilk, and any combination of these _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> § 163.135 Buttermilk chocolate. ( a ) Description. Buttermilk chocolate is the food that conforms to the standard of identity, and is subject to the requirements for label declaration of ingredients for milk chocolate in <https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-163.130> § 163.130 , except that: ( 1 ) The optional dairy ingredients are limited to sweet cream buttermilk, concentrated sweet cream buttermilk, dried sweet cream buttermilk, and any combination of these; and ( 2 ) The finished buttermilk chocolate contains less than 3.39 percent by weight of milkfat and not less than 12 percent by weight of sweet cream buttermilk solids

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-163

Last verified: 2026-08-11. Review by: 2027-08-11.
Part of [What a food must legally contain to use its name: FDA standards of identity, in one table](https://referencesource.org/food-standards-of-identity/).