Feeling peckish🍿: LOTTE Winter Choco Pie 🍫

What's the difference?

WHAT IS A WINTER CHOCO PIE❓

From my perspective, a choco pie is chocolate cake with marshmallow filling coated in a layer of chocolate. That is the basis of most choco pies out there. Usually, the original choco pie has a vanilla cake as its base as well as regular marshmallow. However for the winter choco pie, everything is chocolate. Is chocolate a good reflection of winter? hmm....

For some countries, winter season falls from December to February. What happens in February - valentines day. In Japan, valentines day is usually coined white day, and instead of flowers, Japanese people usually give chocolate. Are you getting my drift? 

SERVING SIZE🙉: 

6 packets per box

PRICE💸: - 

When I bought it, it was already on offer. I'm assuming that it is a seasonal item and discontinued as of today. 

TASTE 😋

When I first tasted it, there is a immediate sickening kind of sickness. Think about it, chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. When it comes to chocolate based products, I find that some products overly cloying, just like this choco pie. I can imagine that this will be a hit for kids, but adults will definitely throw it far away.

INGREDIENTS LIST 📄

That's a lot of ingredients, let's break it down.

Firstly, alcohol. When I first saw alcohol, I was like 😨. Choco pie is known to be a snack for children, so why the alcohol? Turns out, alcohol acts as a flavour enhancer. Although I couldn't find much information about the type of alcohol that is used for choco pies specifically, I'm going to assume that the alcohol used is of a very low percentage, so that it is safe for children to eat.

Next up, carrageenan. Carrageenan is a natural additive that is made from red seaweed. The general use of carrageenan is for thickening, emulsifying and preserving food items. Is it safe to consume? Generally it is safe to consume, but not too much of it. Over consumption of carrageenan has made people more prone to stomach problems such as IBS or have inflammation. At the end of the day, just eat in moderation.

MY TWO CENTS 🪙🪙

While it is generally suitable for everyone to eat, I would strongly advise those who are prone to stomach problems (me) to stay away😿. At the same time, if you are not a fan of that overly artificially sweet taste of chocolate, this will definitely be a miss in your books. Remember, these are my own two cents. I can't read your mind 🧠, nor can I understand your tastebuds👅. So take it with a pinch of salt 🧂

This was one of the more interesting snacks that I have reviewed. I never knew that snacks that are made for children could also contain alcohol, but why wasn't it disclosed though? It could have been chocolate liqueur and not liquor (if you would like to know more about the difference between chocolate liqueur and chocolate liquor, do give the Feastables article a read👍).Anyways, that's all for today, bye bye 👋

References

Guide to Valentine's Day and White Day in Japan | JRailPass. (2023, December 7). Japan Rail Pass. Retrieved June 15, 2024, from https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/valentines-day-white-day-japan

Lotte Winter Choco Pie – Japan Candy Store. (n.d.). Japan Candy Store. Retrieved June 15, 2024, from https://www.japancandystore.com/products/lotte-winter-choco-pie

Why is alcohol an ingredient in some foods? (n.d.). Ask General Mills. Retrieved June 15, 2024, from https://ask.generalmills.com/s/article/Why-is-alcohol-an-ingredient-in-some-foods

Wilson, D. R., & AHN, B. (n.d.). Carrageenan: Safety, Side Effects, and More. Healthline. Retrieved June 15, 2024, from https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/carrageenan#side-effects