Guittard Chocolate Co

Calling all chocoholics. Put down the truffles and power up the PC. It's time to weigh in on a fundamental question: What \o7is \f7chocolate? Two of California's oldest confectioners, See's Candies Inc. and Guittard Chocolate Co., are battling an attempt to loosen government rules that dictate what ingredients go into the sweet stuff. Legally, the candy that melts hearts and comforts the brokenhearted is made with cocoa butter and, in the case of milk chocolate, whole milk.

Horace Albert Guittard, chairman of the Guittard Chocolate Co. board, died of pneumonia Wednesday at his home here. He was 76. Guittard was a member of a third-generation San Francisco family and had battled for the past three years against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. In 1950, he became president of the Guittard Chocolate Co., the oldest independent chocolate company in the United States. He also had been chairman of the board of the Chocolate Manufacturers Assn.