Chocolate Facts I

Chocolate Facts I

First people who made chocolate were the Mayas and the Aztecs. They drank chocolate as a bitter and spicy beverage called “xocoatl” (“bitter water”) Chocolate played an important role in their social and religious life. It symbolized life and fertility and was also used as medicine. It was a drink for wealthy and important people (royalty, priests, etc.)

1. Cocoa beans were also used as money.

2. People spend more than 7 billion dollars a year on chocolate.

3. Chocolate does not cause or aggravate acne, this is a myth.

4. Dark chocolate is most popular among men.

5. The largest chocolate bar ever manufactured was in Italy in 2000 and the bar had a weight of 2268 kilograms.

6. More than twice as many women than men eat and crave chocolate.

7. The first chocolate bar was produced by Cadbury in England in 1842.

8. The word Chocolate comes from the Aztec word xocolatl, meaning, bitter water.

9. 71% of American chocolate eaters prefer milk chocolate.

10. Chocolate makers use 40% of the world's almonds and 20% of the world's peanuts.

11. Nestle introduced Chocolate Chips in 1939.

12. It takes 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate.

13. Research to date supports that chocolate can be enjoyed as part of a balanced, heart‐healthy diet and lifestyle.

14.The average serving of milk chocolate has about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaf coffee.

15. Because cacao trees are so delicate, farmers lose, on average, 30 percent of their crop each year.

16. U.S. chocolate manufacturers use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make milk chocolate.

17. 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.

18. Chocolate comes from a fruit tree; it’s made from a seed.

19. 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.

20. There are an estimated 1.5 million cocoa farms in West Africa.