AMBAO is a

certification mark A certification mark (or conformity mark) on a commercial product indicates the existence of an accepted product standard or regulation and a claim that the manufacturer has verified compliance with those standards or regulations. The specifi ...

for

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

created by the

Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs The FPS Economy, SMEs, Middle Classes, and Energy ( nl, FOD Economie, KMO, Middenstand en Energie , french: SPF Économie, PME, Classes moyennes et Énergie, german: FÖD Wirtschaft, KMU, Mittelstand und Energie), more commonly known as the FPS Eco ...

. The mark certifies that the product has been made without any other vegetable fats other than cocoa fats, or any artificial additives. The AMBAO scheme was designed to resist the effects of the

European Cocoa and Chocolate Directive The European Parliament and Council Directive 2000/36/EC is an EU Directive relating to cocoa and chocolate products. Most notably, this directive allows chocolate to contain up to 5% non-cocoa vegetable fats. The Belgian Ministry of Economic ...

, which allowed the use of up to 5% non-cocoa vegetable fats in chocolate.

References

Chocolate industry Certification marks Belgian legislation Year of introduction missing {{belgium-stub