extra chocolate in your box!!

[crisgal]

when i first started going out with my husband years ago, and he bought me a box of chocs, he took the bottom out when i'd finished. he said he was looking for the extra chocolate - the bit they put in if the weight is under. Well, i was gob smacked! In all my years of eating through tons of chocolate, i didn't know about this - he thought everyone did!

Anyway, there wasn't one in that particular box, but i checked the next box i had and.....there it was, a very thin slab of pure chocolate!! I've checked since but have only found one other in about ten years.

does anyone else check for this? Is it something everyone except me knew about? it's been buggibg me for years to think of all the extra chocolate i probably threw away!

[Ethel]

I haven't seen the free 'makeweight' for years - I think production is a lot more precise these days.

We were certainly aware of it in my family.

[n00dles]

When I've found that miniature slab/tablet of choccy, its usually been in amongst the other chocs. Wouldn't know about the 'hidden' one at the bottom - probably cos I don't usually have chocs - I'm a hard Toffeeholic!!

[Alibobs]

I remeber my mum telling me about them when I was a child and she used to let me have it. Sometimes they were quite chunky -other times no more than a chocolate button.

I think Ethel is right - technology nowadays produces more accurate weights.

The sad thing is, even though it's probably 25 years since I've had a choccy bonus, I still check every box!!!

[Ethel]

Here is an article by Dr Carl Chinn, a Birmingham historian.

In the first paragraph he refers to the makeweight chocolate in Milk Tray.

http://www.bgfl.org/carlchinn/display_item.cfm ?mr=&id=955&rtn=ho

[rugeleyboy]

well i never!!!!

this is new to me and i will be checking from now on!!!

[WendyS]

Yes, I remember the "makeweights" very well. You thought you'd got to the bottom of the box and then somebody won the lucky dip !!

[joko]

wow! never heard of this before! i will have to check from now on - i expect its more common in handmade stuff, as the machine made ones will come out identical each time i would think.

[Gef]

I remember it well from the sixties. Since I haven't eaten chocolate for over 30 tears I don't know if it still exists.

[cardi88]

last christmas my sister found a slab of chocoloate underneath the tray in the cadbury's luxury biscuit selection box and it's been bugging us ever since who'd hidden it there and forgot about it - thanks for clearing that one up for me - i'm going to look so clever next time we meet up!!

[doglady]

I can't believe I've just been throwing my seemingly empty chocolate boxes away all these years. I could have missed out on tonnes of chocolate.

I'll be checking in future!

Thank you so much for starting this thread - I feel like I owe you something!!

[crisgal]

You do! Can you guess what??!