I want to write a bit about chocolate, especially as this is something that most people like so very much. I’m not exactly an expert but over time I have got to know a bit about this delectable food and its related products. I also want to put across my views. Firstly, I actually think that most of the chocolate we are sold, i.e. confectionery chocolate, is not really chocolate. These products contain chocolate – cocoa mass and/or cocoa solids – but if you look at the ingredients you’ll see there’s more sugar and milk than cocoa solids/cocoa mass. Sometimes the first ingredient is sugar, which means there’s more sugar than anything else. The ingredients list usually tells you what percentage of cocoa is present and quite frankly, if it’s less than 50% then the bar is hardly a chocolate bar. At least that’s how I see it.
Looking at a bar of a very well known chocolate, the first three ingredients are: milk, sugar, cocoa butter. This is followed by cocoa mass. It also states: “cocoa solids 20% minimum.” Hhmm, there’s not much of, what I would call, the main ingredient in this bar is there? Even this brand’s ‘dark chocolate’ has only 38% minimum cocoa solids. First three ingredients being: sugar, cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder. Looking at the ingredients of another popular milk chocolate bar, it contains 25% cocoa solids minimum. The first three ingredients being sugar, cocoa butter & skimmed milk powder. White chocolate doesn’t contain any cocoa! Instead, it has cocoa butter.
Personally, I don’t think we’re being served well when it comes to these kinds of chocolate. Surely there should be over 50% cocoa for it to really be a chocolate bar. And there are a number of bars with over 50%. Those are the ones which generally tend to say “70%” or whatever. Dark chocolate – bars with 70% or more cocoa – is nutritious and delicious. You can actually taste the rich chocolate when you eat dark or ‘extra dark’ choc (instead of sugar and milk or cocoa butter).
My usual chocolate is 85% dark chocolate, or it might be called extra dark. I gradually built up to this via eating 60% and then 70% bars. I might go higher as I think there’s a 90% bar available. Dark chocolate – 70% or more – has health benefits, for example, it is a source of antioxidants and can be good for cholesterol levels. You can read more here The article is written by Kris Gunnars where he’s quite straightforward in saying: “Studies show that dark chocolate (not the sugary crap) can improve your health” And here’s another article
I don’t always steer clear of ‘anything less than 85% though. I occasionally have the sugar laden ones. Very occasionally. Recently I enjoyed some yummy ‘chocolate’ which had more sugar than any other ingredient.
I just feel that we’ve been cheated somewhat when it comes to chocolate. Been sold bars that consist of mostly sugar, milk and vegetable oils with a little cocoa, as chocolate. We’ve been sold ‘sugary crap’ and, we have this view that chocolate is bad but tastes so good. And this is true when it comes to confectionery chocolate. Yet cacao, which could be considered as pure, raw chocolate, is not an unhealthy food item. Cocoa is made of processed cacao beans. This article explains the difference between cocoa and cacao.
It’s time to ditch the sugary rubbish and opt for more real chocolate. Also, check out cacao powder and cacao nibs. Cacao contains caffeine so bare that in mind. And, yes you can have too much cacao, which won’t be good for you. 50g is considered as too much, and is associated with sweating, trembling and headaches.
So go for good quality dark chocolate. Enjoy it. Don’t eat large amounts of it. Enjoy the very ocassional sugary versions if you want. Check out cacao or a quality cocoa powder for baking and other recipes. Chocolate doesn’t have to be ‘bad but tastes good’.
