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

For White chocolate, cfr section is 21 CFR 163.124; category (cfr part) is Cacao Products; composition requirements is White chocolate contains not less than 20 percent by weight of cacao fat as calculated by subtracting from the weight of the total fat the weight of the milkfat, dividing the result by the weight of the finished white chocolate, and multiplying the quotient by 100. The finished white chocolate contains not less than 3.5 percent by weight of milkfat and not less than 14 percent by weight of total milk solids, calculated by using only those dairy ingredients specified in  paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and not more than 55 percent by weight nutritive carbohydrate sweetener; what separates it from neighbours is prepared by intimately mixing and grinding cacao fat with one or more of the optional dairy ingredients; notable permitted / prohibited ingredients is White chocolate shall be free of coloring material, recorded from its source on 2026-08-11.

- **CFR section:** 21 CFR 163.124 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Standardized food:** White chocolate _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Category (CFR part):** Cacao Products _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Composition requirements:** White chocolate contains not less than 20 percent by weight of cacao fat as calculated by subtracting from the weight of the total fat the weight of the milkfat, dividing the result by the weight of the finished white chocolate, and multiplying the quotient by 100. The finished white chocolate contains not less than 3.5 percent by weight of milkfat and not less than 14 percent by weight of total milk solids, calculated by using only those dairy ingredients specified in  paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and not more than 55 percent by weight nutritive carbohydrate sweetener. _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **What separates it from neighbours:** prepared by intimately mixing and grinding cacao fat with one or more of the optional dairy ingredients _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Notable permitted / prohibited ingredients:** White chocolate shall be free of coloring material _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> § 163.124 White chocolate. ( a ) Description. ( 1 ) White chocolate is the solid or semiplastic food prepared by intimately mixing and grinding cacao fat with one or more of the optional dairy ingredients specified in <https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-163.124#p-163.124(b)(2)> paragraph (b)(2) of this section and one or more optional nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners and may contain one or more of the other optional ingredients specified in <https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-163.124#p-163.124(b)> paragraph (b) of this section. White chocolate shall be free of coloring material. ( 2 ) White chocolate contains not less than 20 percent by weight of cacao fat as calculated by subtracting from the weight of the total fat the weight of the milkfat, dividing the result by the weight of the finished white chocolate, and multiplying the quotient by 100. The finished white chocolate contains not less than 3.5 percent by weight of milkfat and not less than 14 percent by weight of total milk solids, calculated by using only those dairy ingredients specified in <https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-163.124#p-163.124(b)(2)> paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and not more than 55 percent by weight nutritive carbohydrate sweetener.

## 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/).