10 Fun Chocolate Facts
Chocolate is a favorite dessert and candy for most people. What most don't realize is the interesting history of chocolate and some of the fun facts about chocolate. Chocolate has some interesting history and facts. Here are 10 fun chocolate facts to get you started.
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Top 10 Facts About Chocolate
The first known use of chocolate was as a drink over 2,000 years ago. The Olmecs in southern Mexico used chocolate this way by making a drink out of cacao beans.
In their natural state, cacao beans are not sweet at all. They actually have a bitter taste. The term chocolate originates from an Aztec word meaning 'bitter water'.
The pods of the cacao tree don't grow on the branches. They grow from the trunk and they are about the size of a small cantaloupe.
The proper name of the cacao tree is is Theobroma. This translates into "food of the gods".
The first box of chocolates that are so popular for gifts and holidays today was produced by Richard Cadbury in the 1800s, of Cadbury candy brand fame.
Chocolate is not bad for you if eaten in small quantities. The fact is that dark chocolate, especially, actually has many health benefits. The nutritional components of chocolate include copper, iron, magnesium, and zinc. Probably the most important healthy considerations for chocolate are the antioxidants and flavonoids chocolate contains, especially dark chocolate.
Important fact about chocolate for pet owners: Chocolate in large doses can cause a dog to have seizures, or even death.
White chocolate is technically not chocolate at all. It is made from cocoa beans like chocolate. But instead of contaning chocolate liqeuer like regular chocolate does, white chocolate is made from cocoa butter and contains no liqueur or cocoa solids.
How about this interesting chocolate fact? Americans consume almost 3 billion pounds of chocolate candy each year. They spend over 10 billion dollars yearly on chocolate.
More than half of Americans rank chocolate as their favorite flavor. Also, more than half of Americans prefer milk chocolates over dark chocolates.
The largest bar of chocolate candy ever made was in Italy in 2000, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It weighed more than 2 and a half tons!
