UPDATE 7/20/2013:I would skip the Nestle dark chocolate chips due to the Genetically Modified ingredients contained in them.
There are many chocolate chips out there and I’ve look at each and every single label at several stores, including Target, Rainbow, Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods. The majority of them contain some sort of soy, namely Soy Lecithin. We have tried to remove soy from our diets because of reasons stated elsewhere. This leads to finding soy-free chocolate, which is very hard to find.
The reason manufacturers add it into chocolate is to keep the cocoa and cocoa butter from separating. Ever try to mix cocoa powder and water? It doesn’t mix. Lecithin allows the two to mix.
Why soy lecithin vs other lecithins? Because it is cheap. Our government subsidizes the soy industry, which makes soy very cheap to produce. In the production of soy oil, soy lecithin is removed, usually using hexane or other solvents. This is not good, as the soy lecithin more than likely contains solvent residue. So we have tried to remove soy and soy products from our diets. Hence the search for chocolate chips without soy.
I’ve found two chocolate chips out there in the stores that don’t contain soy lecithin. There are others available on-line, but getting them from the local store is an option that I like. If I run out, I can run to the store and get some chocolate chips.
Nestle dark chocolate chips contains no soy, and can be purchased locally from Target, Roundy’s, Rainbow, Cub, and several other local stores. It is not expensive at $2.99 per 10oz bag or less .
Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips are dairy, nut, and soy free. These can be found online, but I purchased this bag from Whole Foods. It was $4.29 for the 10oz bag. Online it runs $4.99.
Equal exchange has them online, but be sure to get the highest percentage cacao, since the 50 is too sweet.