Fun Facts About Chocolate

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As its Easter week, we have some fun facts about Chocolate:

  • Chocolate comes from a fruit tree; it’s made from a seed.
  • It takes 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate.
  • Each cacao tree produces approximately 2,500 beans.
  • Research to date supports that chocolate can be enjoyed as part of a balanced, heart-healthy diet and lifestyle.
  • The average serving of milk chocolate has about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaf coffee.
  • Because cacao trees are so delicate, farmers lose, on average, 30 percent of their crop each year.
  • U.S. chocolate manufacturers use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make milk chocolate.
  • Studies have demonstrated that one of the major saturated fats in chocolate does not raise cholesterol like other hard fats–meaning chocolate can be enjoyed in moderation.
  • Chocolate comes from a fruit tree; it’s made from a seed.
  • Theobroma Cacao is the tree that produces cocoa beans, and it means “food of the gods.” Carolus Linnaeus, the father of plant taxonomy, named it.
  • Approximately 3 million tons of cocoa beans are turned into chocolate products each year.
  • It takes two to four days to make a single-serving chocolate bar.
  • Chocolate contains two doses of cocoa butter—the natural amount from the bean, plus an extra dollop to bump up creaminess.
  • Cacao percentage determines the amount of cocoa bean products by weight in a chocolate.
  • “Cacao” is how you say “cocoa” in Spanish.
  • Champagne and sparkling wines are too acidic to pair well with milk or dark chocolate. Try pairing a sweet bubbly with white chocolate and red wine with dark. In general you want to match the sweetness level of the wine with the sweetness level of the chocolate.
  • Some cocoa certification programs are modelled on success with a similar product–coffee.
  • Chocolate can make dogs and cats ill–meaning no tastings for your furry friend, and more for you.
  • A farmer must wait four to five years for a cacao tree to produce its first beans.
  • German chocolate cake was named for Sam German, who developed a sweet bar for Baker’s Chocolate–and was not from Germany.
  • The French celebrate April fool’s Day with chocolate-shaped fish, or “Poisson d’Avril.”
BlogClaire Edwards