Many manufacturers produce some form of restricted diet chocolate to meet the various medical or other needs of their customers. Sometimes the restrictions come in varying degrees and may be difficult to sort out.
For each of these, buyer beware. Check the labels. Know what ingredients, or certification labels (and who issues them) are acceptable to your needs.
Dairy
People generally want to avoid dairy for either medical or for personal choice reasons.
Lactose Free -- Those who are medically lactose intollerant are looking for products that are lactose free. Most dark chocolate is lactose free.
Dairy Free -- Some dark chocolates, although they may be lactose free, might still contain some milk products (such as milk fat). To be dairy free the dark chocolate must contain no milk products at all.
Vegan -- To be vegan, the dark chocolate must contain no animal content whatsoever. In most cases, if the dark chocolate is dairy free, it is also vegan. If a product would normally contain eggs, those must also be removed or replaced to be vegan.
Sugar
You may be looking for a restricted diet chocolate containing less sugar, or no sugar, than "normal" or "traditional" chocolate. People are usually working to avoid sugar to control blood chemistry and to lower total calories.
No Added Sugar -- No sugar added products may still contain the sugar that would naturally occur in the product. Check the label carefully. There could still be plenty of sugar, and it may be labelled in several different ways.
Sugar Free -- These products have been formulated to contain no sugar (no more than 0.5 grams per serving). Sugar alcohols or artificial sweetners have been included to provide the amount of sweetness desired. You will need to check labels on these, too, and determine which sugar substitutes work best for you.
Fat
Reducing fat can be a great way to reduce total calories. Be careful, though, that the manufacturer has not simply replaced fat calories with additional sugar calories. If possible, compare the low fat/no fat product with its equivalent "regular" product from the same manufacturer.
Low Fat -- Chocolate, even dark chocolate, is not generally a low fat food. But there are lower fat, reduced fat options.
Fat Free -- Many manufacturers also provide completely fat free products.
Other Ingredients
People with allergies may also be looking for restricted diet chocolate. Most food is also marked if it has been prepared to be free of certain other ingredients, such as peanuts or gluten.
Peanut Free -- This means that, not only are there no peanuts in the product, but the product must also have been made in an environment that has been certified to be peanut free.
Gluten Free -- These products have been certified to be free of glutens, proteins found in cereal grains.
Preparation
The Jewish and Muslim cultures have each evolved and codified dietary law for the preparation of food. While food prepared in this way won't necessarily be healthier, the certification process is generally more rigorous than government requirements, and so is often recognized as "safer". Although there are many similarities, these two sets of dietary law are not identical.
Kosher -- Food prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary law.
Halal -- Food prepared in accordance with Islamic dietary law.
Production
You may be looking for restricted diet chocolate for other than medical or food preparation reasons. You may be concerned with the entire life cycle of the product.
Organic -- Food certified as having been grown without the use of pesticides, insecticides, hormones, artificial colorings, artificial flavorings, additives, antibiotics, chemicals, etc. There are plenty of organic dark chocolate products, like the one in the photo at the top of this page.
Fair Trade -- A certification of the supply chain of a product, that producers (generally in developing countries) are fairly compensated, are working under acceptable conditions, and are mindful of the environment.
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