Clean labels are well-nigh inescapable these days. But when the labels in question get slapped on a category that devotees describe variously as devilish, sinful, addictive and decadent — all in a good way, of course — it’s worth asking whether having a cleaned-up label is even desirable, let alone possible.
And that’s the case that cocoa and chocolate find themselves in. Both are universally beloved in no small part thanks to the transgressive, no-holds-barred indulgence they lend to anything made with them. Consumers don’t just crave their taste and texture, after all; they crave their inherent air of low-stakes licentiousness.