Lecithin reduces fat blooming and increases shelf-life. Adding lecithin also means that up to eight per cent less cocoa butter is needed, which reduces costs.
Lecithin supplier Sternchemie has shown in trials that sunflower lecithin is a viable alternative to soy lecithin for chocolate manufacture.
Production testing at the site of Herza Schokolade showed that, in milk chocolate, the standardised sunflower lecithin LeciStar S 100 gives properties that are essentially identical to soy lecithin. In dark chocolate, the flow moisture point was slightly higher. However, adding about 0.1% more sunflower lecithin gives the same flow moisture point as soy lecithin. In blind tests there was no significant difference in taste between the two lecithins.
Sunflower lecithin is increasing in popularity due to the risk of contamination from genetically modified soya.