Problem: chocolate inside would expand due to heat & break the coating  Found Dr. Alfred Stern (German-Jewish refugee) who apparently lived in Montreal at the time o Idea of blending in air into chocolate before so the expansion crushed the air bubbles, not the coating  M&M chocolate created!! Downloaded by Riviera Dresden ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|3695286

o Red ones did not exist until 1987, when the dye Red #2 was shown to be non-carcinogenic ° ° Cherry Blossom “chocolate”  Contains some sugar, but no cocoa butter  Instead made with vegetable fat, palm oil etc  Contains invertase, which breaks sugar into glucose & fructose o Cherry inside is surrounded by sugary liquid o Invert sugar is more soluble than regular sugar o Cherry is placed inside with sugar, invertase & a bit of water o Invertase breaks down the solid around the cherry (turns gooey) ° ° Big names in chocolate industry  Godiva o Supposedly now bought by Campbell’s Soup o Used to be a Belgian company  Ones produced from Criollo & the like  Porcelana & Ocumare which come from Venezuela ° ° Most expensive chocolate wrapped in gold! ° ° Claims that chocolate is a health food?  1800s: British ad showing unhealthy person drinking gin & healthy person drinking cocoa ° ° Myths  Chocolate might be associated with dermatological problems o No indication that eating chocolate can lead to acne o CAN lead to heartburn in susceptible people  Chocolate relaxes the valve that prevents acid from splashing up  Known as GERD: gastro esophageal reflux disorder  Tooth decay o May be due to sugar content  S. mutans variety of bacteria can convert sugar into lactic acid & plaque lactic acid which attacks teeth enamel o But chocolate contains antibacterial agent that would fight off S. mutans Downloaded by Riviera Dresden ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|3695286

 Migraines o More anecdotal evidence o Claims from certain individuals (susceptible) that they get migraines after eating chocolate ° ° Chocolate is useful in suppressing coughs  High in sugar: tends to smoothen throat & lessens irritation  Theobromine: antitussive, which suppresses cough signal o Responsible for toxic properties for small animals  Don’t have the ability of metabolizing it  Build-up can be deadly ° ° Benefits for heart disease  Although it is high in fat (bitter chocolate highest) 1 type of fat present in chocolate is stearic acid, which is neutral in terms of  blood cholesterol  Cholesterols o HDL cholesterol: good o LDL cholesterol: bad o Oxidized LDL cholesterol: WORST  Chocolate is rich in antioxidants (like flavanols) o Prevents oxidation of LDL cholesterol (component in plaque) o Darker the chocolate, the better  Compare to milk chocolate & red wine  Chocolate increases levels of nitric oxide, NO o NO lowers BP  Mars company tried to develop product line focused on high [favanols] & [antioxidants] o Many people did not like it & it was too $$ for what it was ° ° Different chocolates for different situations  Chocolate with calcium ° ° French have a very low incidence of heart disease 