Guess who bought some chocolate covered dates today?

[Yvette]

No, not Auntie.

It was me!  H & B have a 'buy one, get one half price' sale on.  So it would have been silly to buy just one bag.   >lol<

But - I haven't had one *yet*. 

[Sunshine Meadows]

 >chocolate< :-)

[Dic Penderyn]

I like chocolate and I like dates but have never tried them together must put that on my to do list. >biggrin<

[Yvette]

They are delicious Dic.  Auntie put me onto them as I never knew they existed.

And you can get them all year round.  >thumbsup<

[stalwart]

And I'm still diabetic    >crying<

[Frances]

Yvette can you read the ingredients on the packet for me, I order on line and would love some but no info available as to if they are manufactures where Dairy products are used.  Or if they have Lactose or gluten in.

[auntieCtheM]

*warning*

Chocolate covered dates are additive!

Also if you eat too many they make you feel yucky - don't they Yvette.  But by golly they are s-o-o  lovely!

[Yvette]

Also if you eat too many they make you feel yucky - don't they Yvette

I will have to take your word for it Auntie, as I have never over indulged on them.

[Yvette]

Frances, the ingredients are:

Milk Chocolate 60% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Milk Solids, Cocoa Butter, Whey Solids)

Vegetable Fat (Palm Oil, Exotic Oils)

Emulsifier: Soya, Lecithin, Flavouring)

Dates (40%)

Glazing Agents: Gum Arabic, Sucrose, Glucose Syrup, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Citric Acid, Scorbic Acid, Water, Shellac, Isopropanol.

They don't sound so delicious when you look at the ingredients.  :-(

[starsmurf]

Apologies for what I'm about to write, if it ruins anyone's enjoyment of these refreshments.  I saw this advice on a Welsh programme called X-ray (the wonders of iPlayer) but it applies to the whole of the UK.

If you are eating dates in any form, even covered in chocolate, please cut them open first and have a careful look inside.  This is because a guy from Trading Standards had done a survey of dates and found that many of them contained dead insects or insect parts in the centre of the date. >feeling-sick<  The number affected was really high, so do check first if you're eating dates.

Sorry if I've made anyone feel unwell or ruined anyone's indulgence >blush< but I thought it better than someone getting sick or finding half an insect in the chocolate-covered date they're halfway through eating.

[lankou]

They don't sound so delicious when you look at the ingredients.  :-(

Nothing ever does:-

My favourite sweets, (when I can get them)


Liste des ingrédients : sirop de glucose, sucre, gélatine, dextrose, acidifiant : acide citrique, arômes, colorants : carmins, bleu patenté V, lutéine, agents d'enrobage : cire d'abeille, cire de carnauba

Additifs :
E428 - Gélatine
E330 - Acide citrique
E120 - Acide carminique
E131 - Bleu patenté V
E161b - Lutéine
E901 - Cire d'abeille
E903 - Cire de carnauba

[KizzyKazaer]

Which in English is:

List of ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, gelatin, dextrose, acidifier: citric acid, flavorings, colors: carmine, patent blue V, lutein, coating agents: beeswax, carnauba wax

Additives:

    E428 - Gelatin
    E330 - Citric Acid
    E120 - carminic acid
    E131 - Patent Blue V
    E161b - Lutein
    E901 - Beeswax
    E903 - Carnauba wax

Mmmm, tasty... Wouldn't stop me eating Haribo, though - especially Fangtastics  >tongue-smile<

As for insects in the dates - any 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' fans could always pretend they're doing a Bushtucker Trial, I suppose...

[oldtone27]

I don't doubt the findings starsmurf reports, but as with all food scares I always ask: how many people have been reported ill eating the foodstuff?. Excluding simple over indulgence of course.

It is not unknown of those exotic fruit, apples to contain wildlife, or possibly wild-death. Perhaps a bit easier to than in dates I will concede. Probably of more concern is what they are coated with.

[oldtone27]

My favourite soft sweets are M&S Super Sour Pastilles which are tangy and actually taste of fruit, rather than the terrible, unidentifiable, synthetic taste of Rowntrees equivalent.

Mind you the M&S ingredients list are somewhat mind, not to say stomach, boggling.

Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water, Cornflour, Beef Gelatine, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Fruit Juices from Concentrate (Grapefruit, Raspberry, Lime, Blackcurrant, Lemon, Orange) (contain Preservative: E223 (Sulphites)), colour: Curcumin, Carbon Black, Paprika Extract, Anthocyanins (from Carrots), Flavourings (Blackcurrant, Orange, Raspberry, Lemon, Grapefruit, Lime), Acidity Regulator: E333, Concentrated Nettle, Spinach Extract, Stabiliser: E903.

[Frances]

Thanks Yvette, there was me hoping they were black choccy. Got caught out with their choc covered raisins , though black choc they were made in a factory that processed milk products. so one Heck of a migraine later they got tossed. Grr