When is chocolate not really chocolate? When it’s overstuffed with really healthy stuff like phytonutrients. Cocoa is actually pretty healthy with lots of trace minerals, flavonoids, and polyphenols that are good for heart health. Adding phytonutrients to chocolate is overkill and that is exactly what Null does to this bar ... kill it.

Type(s): Eating Chocolate, Specialty, Nutriceutical
Taste Rating: Bad
Overall Value Rating: Bad

Who is this Gary Null guy, anyway, and why does he think we need nutritious chocolate? I vaguely remembered hearing about him before but did not remember the context. A little research on the Internet revealed that he is a part of the large and unregulated nutritional supplement market, with both a legion of fans and a legion of detractors. According to the web site QuackWatch.org, “Gary Null, whose book jackets bill him as “one of America’s leading health and fitness advocates,” is one of the nation’s leading promoters of dubious treatment for serious disease. He hosts radio and television talk shows, writes books and magazine articles, delivers lectures, and has marketed supplement products.” It is this last category, supplement products, that concerns this review, as Mr. Null has developed and is selling what he calls “Nutritious Chocolate” bars which, in addition to being Vegan, Kosher, and High Protein are made with all-natural ingredients.

The list of ingredients is impressive (or depressing, depending on your point of view):

     Organic Raw Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Mass, Organic Cocoa Butter, Lecithin (emulsifier), Vanillin, Soy Protein, Green Algae Powder, Wheat Grass Powder, Green Barley Powder, Alfalfa Leaf, Oat Grass, Broccoli, Parsley, Kale, Aloe Vera, Cranberries, Strawberries, Apples, Cherries, Red Raspberries, Peaches, Pears, Papayas, Mangoes, Watermelons, Red Currants, Nectarines, Pink Grapefruits, #### Oranges, Pomegranate, Pineapples, Lemons, Limes, Tangerines, Apricots. Strange that he would choose to use vanillin rather than all-natural vanilla.

I got the opportunity to sample of the Gary Null’s Nutritious Chocolate at The Chocolate Show in New York in November, 2004. The chocolate itself is very light, tasting barely roasted and as sweet as the listing of sugar as the first ingredient might suggest. The color is so light that is suggests that it might be a milk chocolate, but my guess is that the total percentage of cocoa mass in the bar is fairly low (gotta have room for all those other ingredients) which, coupled the light roast, results in very little chocolate taste at all, frankly. The texture is off, too—dry and crumbly which is not too surprising given the presence of all those healthful ingredients relative to the amount of cocoa butter.

10 bars cost $34.90, but there is no indication of the size of the bars on the web site. Assuming each bar is 100gr (about 3.5 ounces), the cost for this “nutritious chocolate” is about $16/lb but it could be much higher if the bars are smaller.

Rather than calling it “nutritious chocolate” (which I would classify as an oxymoron), I’d call it Frankenstein Chocolate - a monstrous idea. If you want to eat fruits and veg, then eat fruits and veg. If you want to eat a nutritional supplement filled with phytonutrients and antioxidants, well, then go ahead and do that (I do, along with a vitamin supplement). If you want to each chocolate, theneat chocolate for cocoa’s sake and if you’re worried about the fat in the cocoa butter, then portion control other fats in your diet. Whatever you do, however, resist the urge to eat one of the worst chocolates it has been my misfortune to taste.

UPDATE(S):

For the full QuackWatch.org article on Mr Null, click here.

Company Information:

Gary Null & Associates Inc.
2307 Broadway, 2nd fl.
New York, NY 10024
Phone: 646-505-466
Fax: 212-362-0216
http://www.garynull.com/