Browning of white chocolate during storage

Browning is one of the main problems that limit the shelf-life of confectionery products manufactured with white chocolate. Several parameters that indicate both fat alteration and non enzymatic reactions were measured in a white chocolate substitute and almonds panned with white chocolate. In both goods, the browning phenomenon was related to the surface of the product. In the white chocolate substitute there were strong differences in non-enzymatic browning indicators between the surface and the inside of the tablet but no important differences between the indicators of the state of the fat. In panned almonds, both non-enzymatic browning indicators and fat indices increased with storage. Fat indices did not show a marked alteration of the fat. Non-enzymatic browning parameters increased at different rates. Evidently, non-enzymatic browning reactions are responsible for the browning problems of white chocolate.