Claims of its luxury chocolates being 'expertly crafted' were mere puffery, the Swiss manufacturer insisted, in order to slither out of a legal matter. Where does this leave the schmucks (like you and me) who were naive enough to buy it?

It's one of the mantras of the gourmand's world: dark chocolate is best, and the darker the better. Not long ago, chocolate was chocolate. Only 30 years ago, milk chocolate ruled. You used "baking chocolate" in cooking. Then suddenly you had to choose between "70% cacao" and even "85% cacao". Dark and bitter.

And who makes those? Lindt.

Modern recipes for chocolate tarts generally call for dark chocolate, whereas in decades gone by the "chocolate" component may not have been chocolate as we know it, but powdered cocoa. The same applies to desserts such as chocolate mousse.

But things are changing. Pendulums shift in both directions. And we might well ask ourselves in light of recent developments in the world of chocolate -- is the pendulum swinging back? And should we help it a little?

Lindt is just better, right? More refined, more stylish, more... well, Swiss. Made, we must have presumed, with precision. Maybe even a touch of love.

Or lovingly manufactured with a liberal sprinkling of lies?

Imagine a high-flying global chocolate brand's own lawyers saying their marketing was mere puffery, just some stuff that they...