The number of confectionery companies looking into lab-growing their candy is climbing. You never really know what you’re actually eating, particularly on Halloween.
It can be terribly tempting to have a piece of chocolate and think what you’re eating is (marginally) more natural than if you ate, say, a gummy or hard candy. Surprisingly, there are no reported hard or gummy candies currently being manufactured in laboratories. They do contain ingredients that are synthesized in food labs, but this much can be said of many foods we consume daily. The truth is that even the “chocolate” that goes into Oreos will soon be fabricated in a lab. The official term used to refer to this cocoa powder, in most cases, is “cell-cultured.” The process involves selecting cells from viable, high-quality cacao plants and putting them through a natural fermentation process to multiply and produce more chocolate without the need for natural harvesting.
The reasoning behind this isn’t mere convenience, though; there is a real financial crisis impacting the chocolate industry. Although the cost of lab-growing chocolate continues to outweigh the cost of farming it naturally, there may soon come a day when this isn’t the case anymore. Cacao farms are particularly susceptible to damage from climate change, an ever-growing issue in the current day and age. While crop yields have been increasing, imports to the US have lessened due to lower production in West Africa. Commercial chocolate costs have been rising consistently, and though consumers haven’t been significantly deterred from buying it just yet, the cacao imports are not improving. It may happen that, as techniques to synthesize chocolate are refined and imports continue to decrease, lab-grown chocolate may become the cheaper option for both manufacturers and customers.
Though synthetic chocolate is undeniably artificial (it’s right there in the name!), it isn’t necessarily bad for you. Companies claim it even contains less heavy metal residue and other imperfections than conventional chocolate, given the highly controlled environment in which it’s manufactured. Consumers are, however, advised to take caution; there is an absence of long-term data regarding the effects of excessive fake chocolate consumption. As with most products, the effects on your health depend on the quality of the individual product and its source, not the entire industry. One of the main selling points for companies looking to get into this burgeoning industry is that artificial chocolate is easier on the environment and reduces child labor, giving it a seemingly ethical edge. Though this issue is up for debate, since rolling out lab-grown chocolate large-scale could benefit the economy of the nations producing and exporting it, all while neglecting the people still growing natural cacao.
Lab-grown candies are not presently available on the market, but wide-scale release is slated for early 2027. Companies that have already invested in this new enterprise include Mondelēz (parent company of Cadbury, Toblerone, and Oreo), Lindt, and Nestlé. It seems safe to say we will all have some lab-grown candy sooner or later, but for now, enjoy what may be your last Halloween with only real chocolate!
