Chocolate Shortage
Mind-bogglingly, there is currently a worldwide scarcity of cocoa beans. And this might be the rationale behind the total increase of the price of chocolate in the future, as what experts have assumed.
Chocolate manufacturers are thinking of various useful approaches that can aid in this problem like increasing the amount of nuts, fillers, or any other ingredients so as to bulk out chocolate candies.
This demand is supposedly cause by the rise in the popularity of cocoa in China, the ongoing spread of awareness about the several nutritional advantages of chocolate, and the steady and growing demand for dark chocolate.
According to the editor of trade publication Kennedy’s Confection, Angus Kennedy, the alarming shortage was the main topic in a recent industry summit. In addition, he stated that chocolate makers may go for chocolate flavor substitutes that ‘don’t melt in your mouth’.
It has been foreseen last year that there is gonna be a scarcity in ‘certified’ cocoa or ethically farmed beans, as there has been problems nowadays about accessibility of non-certified beans. ‘Now we are saying it doesn’t matter what you call it – there’s not enough.’ said Kennedy.
Cocoa bean experts are assuming that there is gonna be an intense shortage over the next eight years. Truth be told, they claimed that we will be around a million ton short. A huge–sized farm should be cultivated to meet all the demands.
Lately, chocolate eaters have been raving about dark chocolate and all its health advantages like lowering blood pressure and its link to the prevention of certain heart diseases. Chocolate makers have been encouraging this trend as dark chocolate is a profitable item.
What we must do now is savor chocolate as much as we possibly can and hope for the best to come!
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Brief Exercise Can Curb Chocolate Cravings
A recent study indicated that a 15-minute walk can decrease your consumption of chocolate by half during working hours.
The research was done by the University of Exeter. It turned out that employees eat only half as much chocolate as they typically would after a brief exercise, even when under pressure.
The research made use of a simulated work environment and 78 regular chocolate-eaters, who did not have any chocolate in the past two days, took part.
Two groups were required to walk on a treadmill for 15 minutes and were then given work to complete at their designated desks. One group’s tasks were much easier and less stressful as compared to the other group.
The other two groups were asked to rest before finishing the same tasks as the first batch. Just like the preceding two groups, one group’s tasks were less challenging and less demanding. Chocolate was put in a bowl the whole time they were working so they can reach for it easily.
Those who had a brief walk on the treadmill consumed about 15g, those who had a rest had about 28g. 15g is equivalent to a ‘treat size’ or ‘fun size’ chocolate bar.
The challenge or difficulty of the task they had to do didn’t affect their consumption of chocolate. Therefore, stress had nothing to do with their sweet-tooth cravings.
Professor Adrian Taylor of the University of Exeter, lead researcher, said: “We know that snacking on high calorie foods, like chocolate, at work can become a mindless habit and can lead to weight gain over time,”.
“We often feel that these snacks give us an energy boost, or help us deal with the stress of our jobs, including boredom. People often find it difficult to cut down on their daily treats but this study shows that by taking a short walk, they are able to regulate their intake by half.”, he added.
True enough, exercise has incredible impacts on mood and energy levels that it is even deemed to have the potential in managing addictions.
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: chocolate information, Cravings, research, Science, Studies
The Guardian of Chocolate?
If you are keen on reading about the long history of chocolate, you probably have read somewhere that chocolate and Aztecs come hand in hand. Aztecs have associated cacao trees with the god of agriculture, Quetzalcoatl. According to myths, Quetzalcoatl was the one who brought cacao to the Earth. But such actions didn’t exactly make his superiors happy so he got kicked out of the heavens for giving it to humans. As he escaped, he swore to return one day as a “fair-skinned bearded man” to save the earth.
The earliest Aztecs highly thought of the cacao plant. They believed it to be a great source of strength and wealth and Quetzalcoatl was its guardian, or so they say. This pretty much explains why cacao beans are so special that they were even used as their form of currency at that time.
The Aztecs were among the first ones to work around with cacao beans, but they didn’t make use of it for any culinary purpose at first. They only developed interest in its edibility after observing certain animals, particularly monkeys. Only the pulp of the cacao tree was utilized then, only after a certain stretch of time did they begin using the beans, too.
Myth has it that since Quetzalcoatl left the Aztec empire, people have been awaiting his return. While patiently waiting, they sent offerings of cocoa beans and chocolate drink. Because of their high hopes, when they saw a ship nearing their shores, they instantly thought it was Quetzalcoatl. The Europeans took this vulnerability as a chance to easily conquer their lands, and they were obviously successful with their invasion
Chocolate’s history is indeed covered in legends and myths, not to mention depressing stories. But all these stuff make chocolate all the more interesting and entertaining.
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: Aztec Chocolate, Aztec Civilization, Chocolate History, History, Myths
Love Chocolate, Love People?
Based on a new research, if you happen to have a sweet tooth, chances are, you’re friendlier than those who don’t. Volunteers who preferred chocolate to a non-sweet food product appeared to have a cheery personality.
Turns out, the main characteristic that these chocolate lovers possess is the passion for helping those in need. Nevertheless, it is still debatable whether it was because of chocolate’s mood-enhancing properties or merely the innate fondness of a person. Hold on, don’t go on pretending to be an extreme chocoholic just yet!
‘Our taste studies controlled for positive mood so the effects we found are not due to the happy or rewarding feeling one may have after eating a sweet food,’ says Brian Meiers, a psychology professor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
The five experiments that involved sweetness and agreeability were done by researchers at Gettysburg College, St. Xavier University in Chicago and North Dakota State University with a sample above 500. ‘It is striking that helpful and friendly people are considered ‘sweet’ because taste would seem to have little in common with personality or behavior,’ Meiers added.
In one of the five studies conducted, researchers found out that the society tends to stereotype people who love sweets as the more agreeable ones than people who don’t. ‘People rated those associated with sweet food higher in agreeableness,’ Meiers said.
That judgment was done by merely looking at photographs of people they have never even met, and these people were making neutral facial expressions. Below the photos are short descriptions of them, say, they are fond of eating chocolate or not.
‘There has been a push to find out how these traits are self-predicting of what we do with our daily life,’ Sarah Moeller, a psychology professor at St. Xavier University. ‘We are showing that with these personality traits that you show subtle aspect of self,’ she added. The research was published in the Journal of Personality Social Psychology.
Who wouldn’t want to be considered as sweet? Now being a chocoholic isn’t so bad after all!
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: Person, Psychology, Science, Studies, Study, Sweet Indulgences, sweets
Couverture Chocolate Tidbits
Chocolates are always alluring and they are such a pain to resist. How much more if they’re made out of even higher amounts of cocoa butter than the usual one? You love the mouth-feel of chocolate melting on the tongue, don’t you? Imagine that being intensified. Yes, that.
Couverture chocolate is an extraordinary type of high-quality chocolate being used by chocolate companies and chocolate makers. It offers an even richer and creamier consistency than regular chocolate because more cocoa butter is put in. After proper tempering, you come up with a more polished and glossier chocolate with a crisper “snap” when broken. It’s ideally used for coating, molding, garnishing and dipping.
Not more than 100 companies worldwide produce couverture chocolate. Some of these companies produce only for their own private usage, while others sell their products to other chocolatiers who don’t have the capacity to make their own.
Couverture chocolate outshines the ordinary chocolate with its exceptional characteristics.
Among those is the quality. Couverture chocolate makers’ sources are the chocolate scouts who go around the world to find the best cacao beans, and careful study is being done for them to achieve the perfect bean blend for that exceptionally distinct flavor profile.
To be called as couverture, the chocolate must hold 32 to 39% of cocoa butter and the total percentage of the cocoa butter and the cocoa solids should be at least 54%.
Couverture chocolate is way too different from confectionery chocolate or compound chocolate sine these products have a much lesser amount of cocoa butter. More to these, some of them even contain vegetable/coconut/palm oil, hydrogenated fats, as well as artificial chocolate flavoring.
Couverture chocolate is suggested not to be mixed in with any other ingredients because of its high price and quality. It is built to stand out alone as an ingredient. It is ideal for chocolate fountains since the cocoa butter acts as a lubricant to avoid clumping of the chocolate and getting stickier than what is ideal.
If you want to give it a try, you can get samples from the makers to get the flavor profile you personally like since couverture chocolates have different tastes depending on where the beans came from and the process they undergo.
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: Cacao Butter, chocolate education, chocolate tasting, learn about chocolate, special
Chocolate and Chemistry
Chocolate is out-and-out delectable and nearly every one of us aren’t precisely aware of the cause why we just can’t defy its appeal. But not the ones who create them, they practically are acquainted with why we find chocolate tempting and it all boils down to chemistry.
Chocolate may be sweet and all that but the main reason behind its unexplainable allure is the fat, according to Professor Dolores O’Riordan of University College Dublin who is based in the Institute of Food and Health. In a speech during the Science week named Smart Chemistry – Tasty Food!, she said “The melting of the fat is very important,”
According to Professor O’Riordan, cocoa butter is the most important fat in chocolate, something the chocolatier has to do some chemistry on. In the said presentation, the audience was comprised of students. Much to their delight, they were given some samples of chocolate and chanced upon some taste test
The size of “fat crystal” shaped during construction was of the essence. Every chocolate has diverse melting points, but what these chocolate makers are usually looking for is one that melts in the mouth. A large fat crystal which melts in the mouth at 33.8 degrees is the best bet.
“Essentially the food we eat is made of chemicals. We process the chemicals within the food to make them safe, to give them texture, to make them look and taste nice,” Prof O’Riordan told her audience.
Chemistry is useful in changing the aroma, color, texture, “and that all affects the food choices we make”, she added. And according to her, contrary to popular belief, additives, preservatives and artificial colors aren’t so bad. She claims that they were basically safe. Interesting enough, the love of chocolate can be passed down to your offspring as Prof O’Riordan said “Genes can also influence our preferences for food,”
There certainly is a selection of food that people are adoring, and chocolate is almost always in our list. Blame it on Chemistry.
Categories: chocolate articles Tags: CHEMISTRY, chocolate facts, learn about chocolate, Science
Why Chocolate Is Downright Alluring
You can be a self-proclaimed chocoholic and love everything chocolate. You eat chocolate, you eat foo with chocolate, you use things with labels screaming chocolate, and all that jazz. Chocolate is so loved by people that the word ‘chocoholic’ made its way into Merriam-Webster. Almost all the important celebrations call for chocolate, be it the up-and-coming Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas!
What is it, really, that people are rooting for in chocolate? Its versatility, perhaps. You see, any delectable treat can be made out of chocolate and it’s bound to end up lip-smacking good, namely cakes, ice cream, cookies, and drinks, among so many other mouth-watering sweets. It can be soft, hard, white, dark, a filling, topping, or flow out of a fountain, name it!
Or maybe, it’s the feel-good reaction we get from chocolate. Some previous studies have found out that chocolate stimulates a part of the brain which has an influence on the mood. Thus, it gives out a rather comforting feeling after consumption, a feeling which is, by some means, addicting.
It can also be the pure novelty of chocolate that makes it such a pleasure. Chocolate has long been known as a powerful gift for quite a while now and it has always been used to show affection. For centuries now, chocolate has been famous as a gift in the European royalty. No arguments about why many are lured in by such treat. Suffice it to say, chocolate is the perfect gift for any age, gender, or occasion.
Chocolate is everywhere yet it still feels extremely out of the ordinary. It draws out different pleasurable emotions. The experience you get from its elegance, richness, and variety makes it all the more enticing.
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: Addiction, chocoholics, Chocolatelover, Phenomenon
