A healthier chocolate

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We all love chocolate. Or at least most of us do. The texture, the taste – everything about it makes it the perfect snack. Unfortunately, as you may know, it is not the healthiest of foods as it contains a lot of sugar and fat. However, it looks like scientists came up with an idea of how to make chocolate better for us.

The fact that chocolate is unhealthy is common knowledge but do you know exactly how unhealthy it can be? As stated in Everyday Health “according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 25 grams (g) of white chocolate has 146 calories and 10 g of fat”. Moreover, it is said that “the USDA estimates that 38 g (about three squares) of milk chocolate contains 220 calories and 13 g of fat”. Additionally, as claimed by Everyday Health “it’s estimated that a 1 ounce (oz) serving (28 g) of 85 percent dark chocolate has 136 calories, 14 g of fat”. Knowing those statistics it is obvious why chocolate is not the healthiest.

It seems like there might be a way to make chocolate better for us but first, we need to understand why there is so much fat in this delicious snack. According to Science Mag, “manufacturers have traditionally struggled to make low-fat chocolates because reducing the fat level of liquid chocolate below 36% by using less cocoa butter makes it extremely thick and likely to clog machinery”.

However, it looks like scientists discovered a way to reduce fat in chocolate using electric fields. According to Science Alert “the physicists involved in the research, from Temple University in Philadelphia, found that by applying an electric field in the same direction as the flow of the liquid chocolate, they could reduce its viscosity in that direction – and only that direction”. It is said that “what happens during the new process is that the cocoa particles get aggregated into small chains as the electric field is applied, which means they’re more highly organised inside the sticky chocolate, and flow in a certain direction more readily”. In agreement with the Science Mag, the results are incredible as “this allows confectioners to use less fatty cocoa butter while not risking clogging their machinery”.

This discovery could potentially revolutionize the chocolate industry although as stated in Los Angeles Times “the research was funded in part by Mars, though a company spokeswoman declined to say whether the company planned to use the electric-field technology”.

References:

https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/diet/chocolate-dark-chocolate-nutrition-facts-health-benefits-caffeine-recipes/

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/06/healthier-chocolate-thanks-electric-fields

https://www.sciencealert.com/how-electrical-fields-can-be-used-to-create-low-fat-chocolate

https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-chocolate-electric-beam-20160620-snap-story.html

3 thoughts on “A healthier chocolate

  1. Nedilenko Oleksandra says:

    Oh, I would be so happy if all chocolate manufactures used this electro-field technology!! I am a big chocolate lover, so this improvement is very beneficial for my health:)

  2. Nowicki Iwo says:

    Well, as it sounds perfect for all people with some sugar addiction – like me, it probably won’t be introduced in the near future as it won’t be as addictive as it is for now – and this is what companies care most about, so they can resuply.Secondly, I bet implementing this, and let’s call it “electro-field-low-sugar-chocolate-machinery, cost a lot and probably to much money to implement in all factories around the globe. Thanks for sharing this as i had no idea about it completely and it’s a new fun-fact I can share with my friends and talk about. Good blog!

  3. Sheremet Diana says:

    This is a very good option for people who are addicted to sugar. As far as I know, there are a lot of such people.

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