Listen — we all know that gooey, sweet chocolate syrup is very delicious. But nutritious? Now that is a bold claim, and one the Food and Drug Administration is warning Hershey’s not to make on its labels. It told the company in a warning letter that it can’t just go around calling things fortified and such just to make its syrup seem healthy.

The letter was dated on February 14 (otherwise known as the day lots of people secure promises of eternal love with gifts of chocolate) but was just released to the public this week. In it, the FDA calls out Hershey’s for labels on its Syrup+Calcium and Syrup Sugar Free with Vitamin and Mineral Fortifications, saying those products don’t meet regulatory guidelines.

Basically using the terms “plus” and “fortification” on the labels to make the products seem kinda healthy can’t be used here, because the actual nutritional content of the syrups isn’t enough to carry that claim off. If a product is going to be labeled as such, the FDA says the amount of vitamins and minerals in it must be at least 10% of the referenced daily intake.

Hershey says it’s already resolved the matter, and that one product has now been renamed Syrup with Calcium while the other simply dropped the word “fortification.”

So you can keep on squirting that chocolate syrup directly into your mouth, but insisting “Lay off me, I’m just getting my vitamins” isn’t going to fly anymore.

FDA warns Hershey over chocolate syrup labeling [Reuters]

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