Chocolate keeps well for a long time after the best-before date, yet one-third settles for checking the date to determine if it is edible, shows a survey conducted by Kantar for the food waste app Too good to go.
Nearly two out of three taste the chocolate.
There may be cosmetic deviations on chocolate, a white coating, which makes it not look good. Then we recommend smelling and tasting, and if it's not okay, you'll feel it, says Sweden manager Sofia Edholm.
Dry and cool
Chocolate without fillings and additives keeps for at least a year if stored correctly. The fewer additives and the higher the cocoa content, the longer it keeps.
How do you store chocolate best then? 31 percent want it in the refrigerator, but that's not the best place.
Store it dry and cool, between 15-20 degrees, and don't move it between different temperatures.
21 percent answered that they throw away chocolate if it has a white coating - completely unnecessarily. The white is not mold as many think, but fat or sugar blooming that occurs if the chocolate has been exposed to different temperatures or become humid.
It has very little impact on quality, but is more something that may not look so nice.
Use in cooking
If you think the white looks unappetizing, Sofia Edholm advises using the chocolate in, for example, baking or melting and making other sweets.
The same applies to Easter bunnies and eggs in chocolate. They are expensive right before Easter but then end up in the trash.
It tastes just as good when it's a rabbit as a chocolate cake. But if you don't think it's fun with the shape, you can, for example, make chocolate mousse or a chocolate sauce.
Since last March, chocolate has become 28.9 percent more expensive, according to SCB.
64 percent answer that they taste the chocolate to determine if it is edible or not. 32 percent check the best-before date.
21 percent throw away chocolate if it has gotten a white coating. 44 percent eat it anyway.
54 percent store their chocolate in the pantry, 31 put it in the refrigerator, and 9 percent leave it out.
Despite the high chocolate prices, 52 percent answer that they will buy as much chocolate as they usually do at Easter. 30 percent say they will buy less, and 5 percent don't buy any chocolate at all due to the price.
The survey was conducted by Kantar Media during the period 28-30 March 2025. A total of 1,050 people aged 18-79 were interviewed.
