Chocolate Facts

• The botanical name of the chocolate plant is Theobramba cacao, which means “Food of the Gods”.
• In 1871 Milton Hershey, at the age of nineteen, founded his company, Hershey’s, in Pennsylvania.
• The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it.
• Several medical studies show that eating chocolate in moderation can prolong your life by reducing the risk of blood clots and fighting bad cholesterol.
• Rowntree, a British chocolate company, launched several candy bars and other confectioneries that are now a staple of the Nestlé collection of confectioneries (Rowntree was acquired by Nestlé in 1988). These include Aero, Kit Kat, Quality Street, Rolo, and Smarties.
• The word chocolate comes from the Aztec word xocolatl, which means “bitter water”.
• Americans collectively eat one hundred pounds (45.36 kg) of chocolate every second.
• The sponge-toffee in Crunchies is produced in large slabs that are cut to size using a high-speed jet of oil because a blade would shatter the toffee and water would melt it.
• In 1875, milk chocolate was introduced by Daniel Peter of Switzerland after over eight years of experimentation. He sold his creation to his neighbour, Henri Nestlé, and thus Nestlé Chocolate came into being.
• In 1996 the Rotary Club of Piet Retief, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, made a chocolate and marshmallow Easter egg that was just over 7.6 m (25 feet) high. The egg weighed 4068 kg (8968 pounds) and was supported by an internal steel frame.
• Chocolate has a very low melting point, 34 C (93 F), which is below body temperature (37 C [98.6 F]). This is why chocolate is such a melt-in-the-mouth delight.
• The Swiss consume more chocolate than any other nation in the world. In 2003 on average each Swiss ate 12.3 kg of chocolate. The average American only consumes 4.5 kg.
• The fruit of the Cacao tree grow directly from the trunk. They look like small melons, and the pulp inside contains 20 to 50 seeds or beans. It takes about 400 beans to make a pound (453.6 g) of chocolate.
• Chocolate manufacturers currently use 40% of the world’s almonds and 20% of the world’s peanuts.
• 63% of Americans can’t resist buying a chocolate treat for themselves when buying chocolates for someone else.
• Cacao is rich in antioxidants
• Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. It was cacao originally but became cocoa as a result of misspelling.
• The largest chocolate bar ever manufactured weighed 2280 kg (5026 pounds) and was exhibited by Elah-Dufour United Food Companies at Eurochocolate in Turin, Italy in March 2000.
• Chocolate does not cause acne.
• Chocolate shouldn’t be fed to pets as it contains theobromine, which is highly toxic to them, because it overstimulates their cardiac and nervous systems and can cause instantaneous death.
• The original name for Smarties was Chocolate Niblet Beans.
• The chocolate bar was invented by Fry & Sons in England in 1847. Before their invention, it was consumed as a liquid.
• Cadbury Flake was conceived of by an employee who noticed that the excess chocolate in the chocolate moulds at his factory would spill out and fall into folded masses, that, when cooled, would form interesting thin flakey layers of chocolate.
• Smarties aren’t kosher and cannot be eaten by vegetarians as the chemical used to dye red Smarties is derived from the Cochineal beetle.

Chocolate Quotes

“If God had meant us to be thin, He would not have created chocolate.”

–Anonymous

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.”

–Truman Capote

“Stress wouldn’t be so hard to take if it were chocolate covered.”

–Anonymous

Las cosas claras y el chocolate espeso. (Ideas should be clear and chocolate thick.)

–Spanish proverb

“There are four basic food groups, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.”

–Anonymous

“I was handed a chocolate bar and an M-1 rifle and told to go kill Hitler.”

–Jack Kirby

“I could give up chocolate but I’m not a quitter.”

Anonymous

“Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it I wash my mouth out with chocolate”

–Charles M. Schulz

“In the beginning, the Lord created chocolate, and He saw that it was good. Then He separated the light from the dark, and it was better.”

–Anonymous

“Chocolate is an antidepressant, which is especially useful as you start to gain weight.”

–Jason Love

“Forget love…I’d rather fall in chocolate!”

–Anonymous

“There is nothing better than a friend unless it is a friend with chocolate.”

–Charles Dickens

“Seven days without chocolate makes one weak.”

–Anonymous

“Other things are just food. But chocolate’s chocolate.”

–Patrick Skene Catling

“I am not overweight. I am chocolate-enriched.”

–Anonymous