Chocolate Analysis: History and Health Benefits

1. Chocolate Analysis: History and Health Benefits By Nina and Helen

2. A Brief History • 90 percent of chocolate's long history, it was strictly a beverage, and sugar didn't have anything to do with it. • Etymologists trace the origin of the word "chocolate" to the Aztec word "xocoatl," which referred to a bitter drink brewed from cacao beans. • Many modern historians have estimated that chocolate has been around for about 2000 years, but recent research suggests that it may be even older. • Sweetened chocolate didn't appear until Europeans discovered the Americas and sampled the native cuisine. • By the 17th century, chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe, believed to have nutritious, medicinal and even aphrodisiac properties. 1828, a Dutch chemist found a way to make powdered chocolate by removing about half the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor, pulverizing what remained and treating the mixture with alkaline salts to cut the bitter taste. His product became known as "Dutch cocoa," and it soon led to the creation of solid chocolate. • The first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry, who in 1847 discovered that he could make a moldable chocolate paste by adding melted cacao butter back into Dutch cocoa. • By 1868, a little company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England. • In the 20th century, the word "chocolate" expanded to include a range of affordable treats with more sugar and additives than actual cacao in them, often made from the hardiest but least flavorful of the bean varieties (forastero).

3. Places Known for Chocolate: Well Known Examples: • Mexico • Spain • France • Belgium • Switzerland • England • Ivory Coast • Holland • U.S.A. Countries known for growing cacao

4. General Ingredients in Chocolate Cacao     -Chocolate Liquor     -Cocoa Butter     -Cocoa or Cocoa powder Sugar Milk Emulsifier 

5. Common Vitamins in Chocolate:(3% and over) Dark Chocolate: Vitamin K   Riboflavin   Niacin   Vitamin B12  Pantothenic Acid   White Chocolate: Vitamin E   Vitamin K  Thiamin Riboflavin Niacin Vitamin B6 Folate Vitamin B12 Pantothenic Acid Milk Chocolate:             Vitamin A             Vitamin E             Vitamin K Thiamin Riboflavin Niacin             Vitamin B6             Folate             Vitamin B12             Pantothenic Acid

6. White Chocolate: Calcium Magnesium Phosphorus Potassium Sodium Zinc Copper Selenium                 Dark Chocolate: Calcium                 Iron                 Magnesium                 Phosphorus                 Potassium                 Zinc                 Copper                 Manganese                 Selenium Common Minerals in Chocolate:(3% and over)           Milk Chocolate: Calcium Iron Magnesium Phosphorus Potassium Sodium Zinc Copper Manganese Selenium

7. WhiteChocolate: TotalFat: 9g per ounce Saturated: 5.4g per ounce Monounsaturated: 2.5g per ounce Polyunsaturated: .3g per ounce Dark Chocolate: Total Fat: 12g per ounce Saturated: 6.9g per ounce Monounsaturated: 3.6g per ounce Polyunsaturated: 0.4g per ounce Fat Content Milk Chocolate: Total Fat: 8.3gperounce Saturated: 5.2 per ounce Monounsaturated: 2g per ounce Polyunsaturated: 0.4 per ounce

8. Antioxidents - and other Health Benefits  These health benefits are only found in dark chocolate- but it is always important to eat any chocolate in moderation and reduce other fat and sugar intakes when you eat it. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments. "Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate." • Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.  • Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10%.

9. Hershey Cookies 'n' Cream (based on one serving)     Serving Size: 1.6 oz Calories: 220   Calories from Fat: 100 Total Fat: 12g   Saturated Fat: 7g Cholesterol:  5mg Sodium: 100mg Total Carbohydrate: 26g Sugars: 19g Starch: 7g Fiber: 0g Protein: 3g Ingredients: White Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Nonfat Milk, Lactose, Reduced Minerals Whey, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin and PGPR, Emulsifiers, Vanillin, Artificial Flavor, and Tocopherols, To Preserve Freshness), Enriched Flour(Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thaiamin Monoitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid), Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, (Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil), Contains 2% or less of: Cocoa Processed with Alkai, Whey(milk) Chocolate, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt, Soy Lecithin, and Natural and Artificial Flavor. Lindt White Chocolate (based on one serving)     Serving Size: 1.47 oz Calories: 230         Calories from Fat: 130 Total Fat: 15g  Saturated Fat: 9g Cholesterol:  10mg Sodium: 45mg Total Carbohydrate: 22g Sugars:23g Starch: 0g Fiber: 1g Protein: 3g Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa butter, Milk, Skim Milk, Soya Lecithin (emulsifier), Artificial Flavor White Chocolate

10. Hersheys Milk Chocolate (based on one serving)     Serving Size: 1.47 oz Calories: 200         Calories from Fat: 100 Total Fat: 12g  Saturated Fat: 7g Cholesterol: 10mg Sodium: 30mg Total Carbohydrate: 23g Sugars: 22g     Starch:  0g     Fiber: 1g Protein: 3g Ingredients: Milk Chocolate (Sugar; Milk; Chocolate; Cocoa Butter; Lactose; Milk Fat; Soy Lecithin; PGPR, Emulsifier; Vanillin, Artificial Flavor). Lindt Milk Chocolate (based on one serving)     Serving Size: 1.3 oz Calories: 220 Calories from Fat: 120 Total Fat: 13g  Saturated Fat: 8g Cholesterol: 5mg Sodium: 50mg Total Carbohydrate: 24g Sugars: 22g Starch: 2g     Fiber: 0g Protein: 4g Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, milk, chocolate, skim milk, soya lecithin (emulsifier), barley malt powder, artificial flavoring. Milk Chocolate

11. Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate: (based on one serving)     Serving size- 38g/5 blocks Calories:180     Calories from Fat: 100 Total Fat: 12g Saturated Fat: 7g Cholesterol: < 5mg Sodium: 12mg Total Carbohydrates: 23g     - Sugars 19g - Starch 1g - Fiber 3g Protein: 2g Ingredients: sugar; chocolate; cocoa butter; cocoa processed with alkali; milk fat; lactose; soy lecithin; pgpr; emulsifier; vanillin; artificial flavor; milk. Lindt 90% dark chocolate: (based on one serving)     Serving size- 40g/4squares Calories: 180     Calories from Fat: 100 Total Fat: 22g Saturated Fat: 13g Cholesterol: 0 Sodium: 10mg Total Carbohydrates: 12g     - Sugars 3g - Starch 4g - Fiber 5g Protein: 4g Ingredients: chocolate; cocoa processed with alkali; cocoa butter; sugar; bourbon vanilla beans                     Dark Chocolate

12. Which of the 6 chocolates did you like the most? Milk Hershey's? Lindt? Dark Hershey's? Lindt? White Hershey's? Lindt? What's your favorite?

13. Things to Consider - Eating a small portion of dark chocolate everyday can have large health benefits, but that doesn't mean that you should binge on huge amounts chocolate everyday. -Remember that the heath benefits of chocolate are mainly found in dark chocolate, but there are vitamins and minerals in all varieties. -Chocolate is a food high in fats and sugars, and should always be eaten in moderation.

14. Analysis  -When you compare servings of chocolate, it is clear that Hershey's has less calories and a larger serving size for their chocolate.  -Hershey's chocolate also usually has more ingredients than Lindt which tends to have closer to the minimum of ingredients required for that type of chocolate.  -Lindt chocolate also tends to have much more fat in it than Hershey's.   -Another interesting thing to consider that the amount of carbohydrates in  the Hershey's dark chocolate is almost twice as much as in the Lindt chocolate.  -Lindt chocolate also has either equal or more protein than Hershey's chocolate -Interestingly enough Hershey's chocolate has lactose added to it along with milk and milk fat; where Lindt only uses milk or in the case of dark chocolate it doesn't use any milk. Because Hershey's puts milk in the dark chocolate, the health benefits become diminished.