Look out for:

An immediate chocolate taste that’s natural and not cloyingly sweet, plus a thick, smooth texture that doesn’t err on the side of oiliness. If it’s a chocolate and nut spread, look for a balance of flavours.

Guest panellists: Keith Hurdman and Louise Nason, respectively chocolatier and owner of Melt, W11 (020-7727 5030).

The top three

**** Green & Black’s Hazelnut Chocolate Spread, 400g, £2.65

Very fine tasting with an almost delicate hazelnut flavour. You don’t get a massive chocolatey kick, but there’s nothing synthetic here. Really quite pleasant, you could eat a lot of this before feeling ill.

**** Choco Chocoreale Bio, 350g, £2.49 (available from Fresh & Wild)

The most appealing visually – just look at that dark, rich texture. Not much aroma, but scoop out a spoonful and there’s a versatile, fudge-like consistency you could happily use in cakes and baking.

*** Nutella, 200g, £1.02

A little generic, it’s just a bit too sweet and a touch oily. The balance of chocolate and hazelnut is good though, so you can see why people might like this.

...and the rest?

** Tesco Finest Praline Hazelnut Chocolate Spread, 225g, £1.19

Although this is very soft and spreadable, it still has quite a gritty texture. You can see the sugar crystals, and it’s the sweetness that hits you first, the flavour second.

* Galaxy Spread, 300g, £1.89

This looks whipped, there’s an aerated texture which isn’t what you want. It tastes like chocolate – just not very nice chocolate.

no stars Cadbury Milk Chocolate Spread, 400g, £1.89

Absolutely terrible. It’s something an industrial chemist has cooked up in a lab. Vegetably, sweet and synthetic, this is genuinely upsetting.

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