Almost everyone loves chocolate and you do not need to be a professional chocolate taster to enjoy its incredible taste. Chocolate is one of the most popular food in the world.
1. According to archaeological studies, cocoa was first used in South and Central America in the 19th century BC.
2. The Aztecs were not able to grow cacao themselves, so they valued cocoa beans so highly that they were often used as a currency.
3. According to a survey by Chocolate Manufacturers Association, Switzerland leads the world in chocolate consumption with 22.36 pounds per person each year, for comparison in the USA this number twice less.
4. It takes about 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate. Each cocoa tree has about 25,000 beans, which means that only one tree can be made around 60 pounds of chocolate.
5. Chocolate is very dangerous for our pets. In particular, it can cause neurological disorders and cardiovascular diseases in cats and dogs, and can even lead to death.
6. Chocolate contains the theobromine – it can help to dilate constricted blood vessels, which means it could have therapeutic use in treating high blood pressure. But a large amount of theobromine causes kidney damage and heart failure. However, the amount is much higher than what people normally would consume, you need to eat about 10 kg of chocolate at a time.
7. Only in the USA, people spend on chocolate over 100 billion dollars a year.
8. The caffeine content in chocolate is much lower than in coca-cola or coffee. 100 g of chocolate contains about 20 mg of caffeine, while a cup of coffee contains more than 80 mg.
9. Production of M&Ms began in 1941 and the company’s first big customer was the U.S. Army, which saw the invention as a way to allow soldiers to carry chocolate in tropical climates without it melting.
10. In talented hands, chocolate can become a real work of art. Edinburgh (Scotland) designer Lauren Smith has created a dress made entirely of chocolate that has been unveiled for National Chocolate Week. The strapless number complete with rippling skirt took two weeks to make, 24 hours to hand paint and weighs a heavy 50 kg.
11. The world’s largest chocolate bar with a record weight of 5792.5 kg, was created by the British chocolate company Thorntons to celebrate its 100th birthday.
