The name of Milky Way bars has nothing to do with the galaxy; they were actually named after malted milkshakes that they were meant to taste like.
Chocolate is loved by everyone – men, women, and children – as it is a temporary solution to every problem, whether it is anger, sadness, happiness, or love.
Chocolate is truly a wonder of the world; it has been so highly valued in the past that it used to be used as currency.
In 2014, the sales of chocolate in the US alone reached $21.1 billion, which shows how significant and in-demand this product is.
Whether it is white, milk, dark, or any other rare variety (which will be revealed later), everyone enjoys sitting down to have a square or ten.
Here, we will explore 100 fascinating facts about chocolate.
Winston Churchill was once in danger of being assassinated by the Nazis through an exploding bar of chocolate.
The Aztecs used cacao seeds as a form of currency.
Montezuma II, an Aztec emperor, consumed over 50 cups of chocolate per day.
In addition to milk, dark, and white varieties, there is also a rare fourth type of chocolate known as blond chocolate.
The financing for the film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was provided by Quaker Oats to promote their new Wonka Bar candy. This is why the movie is named after the candy bar instead of the book’s title, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Joseph Fry invented the first chocolate bar in 1847.
The chocolate industry is worth approximately $110 billion per year.
Milky Way bars were not named after the galaxy; they were named after the malted milkshakes that they were supposed to taste like.
Three Musketeers bars originally consisted of three pieces: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. However, they switched to just one bar after the price of strawberries rose.
In 1947, hundreds of Canadian children went on strike and boycotted chocolate after the price of a chocolate bar increased from 5 to 8 cents.
Andes Candies were originally called “Andy’s Candies,” after their creator, George Andrew Kanelos, but the name was changed after men didn’t want to buy chocolates with another man’s name on them for their partners.
A 2013 study found that the smell of chocolate in a bookstore made customers 22% more likely to buy books of any genre and a whopping 40% more likely to buy cookbooks or romance novels.
The largest chocolate bar ever made weighed over 12,770 lbs (5,792 kg) and was created in the UK to celebrate Thornton’s 100th birthday.
The world’s most valuable chocolate bar is a 100-year-old Cadbury bar that was taken on Captain Robert Scott’s first expedition to the Antarctic. It was sold at an auction in 2001 for $687.
Chocolate milk was invented in Jamaica, where Irish botanist Sir Hans Sloane was said to have first mixed chocolate with milk in the early 1700s.
Chocolate milk is an effective post-workout recovery drink.
German chocolate cake is named after its inventor, Sam German, and has nothing to do with Germany.
Darker chocolates can contain as much caffeine as a can of Coca-Cola.
A 2004 study in London found that 70% of people would give their passwords for a chocolate bar.
Americans buy over 58 million lbs (26 million kg) of chocolate on Valentine’s Day, which accounts for 5% of yearly sales.
Brussels Airport is the world’s largest seller of chocolate, selling over 800 tons of chocolate per year.
Africa produces more than 2/3 of the world’s cocoa, with Côte d’Ivoire alone accounting for 33% of the world’s supply. In 1971, a chocolate river was created for the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory film using 15,000 gallons of water mixed with chocolate and cream, but it spoiled quickly due to the cream. The International Cocoa Organization reports that the average person in the UK, Switzerland, or Germany consumes 24lbs (11kg) of chocolate per year. Ruth Wakefield accidentally created chocolate chip cookies in 1930 when she mixed Nestle chocolate pieces into her cookie dough after running out of baker’s chocolate, and later sold the idea to Nestle for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Lays sold limited edition crisps covered in milk chocolate for a “salty-sweet combination, along with the texture contrast of warm melted chocolate and a crunchy chip.” The US Food and Drug Administration rejects any chocolate with more than 60 insect pieces per 100 grams. A thief stole $28 million worth of gems in 2007 after repeatedly offering chocolate to gain the guards’ trust at an Antwerp Bank. Approximately 1 in 200 workers, or around 17,000 people in Belgium, work in the production and promotion of chocolate. A single chocolate chip gives an adult enough energy to walk 150 feet, while 35 chips are enough for a mile and 875,000 chips would take someone around the world. It takes one year’s crop from one cocoa tree to make half a kilo of cocoa. The creator of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Harry Burnett Reese, was a farmer and former shipping foreman and dairy farmer for Milton S. Hershey, founder of Hershey’s chocolate. Terry’s produces over 350 million chocolate orange segments annually. During the Aztec reign, a slave could be bought for 100 cocoa beans. 1 in 7 people aged 15-24 claim that life without chocolate is not worth living. The largest chocolate sculpture ever made was a 10-foot high Easter egg weighing 4,484 lbs (2,034 kg) in Melbourne, Australia. Blue packaged chocolate does not sell well in Shanghai or Hong Kong, as blue is associated with death in Chinese culture. The first cacao trees were found in the Amazon River basin and the Venezuelan and Colombian Andes. In 1991, a chocolate model ship measuring approximately 42.5ft long, 28ft tall, and 8ft wide was created in Barcelona. Japanese women give chocolate hearts to their loved ones on February 14th, with men returning the gesture a month later on “Howaito” white day. In the original Psycho film, the blood in the famous shower scene was actually chocolate syrup. Chocolate sales in 2014 amounted to $21.1 billion. On December 6th, during the feast of St. Nicholas, children in Holland place their clogs outside at night for Santa to fill with chocolate money. July 7th is National Chocolate Day in the UK, marking the day when chocolate was first brought to Europe in 1550, with some crediting Christopher Columbus in 1504. International Chocolate Day is celebrated on September 13th, and some observe National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day on November 7th.
The Hershey Chocolate Company was founded by Milton Hershey, who began his career in candy at the age of 30 with The Lancaster Caramel Company. 28,000 Terry’s Chocolate Oranges can be made from 5 tons of chocolate. In 1875, Swiss chocolate maker Daniel Peter created milk chocolate by mixing chocolate with condensed milk after eight years of experimentation. It takes about 400 beans to make one pound of chocolate. Cacao trees can live for up to 200 years, but they only produce viable cacao beans for 25 years. The world’s biggest box of chocolates weighed 2,002 lbs (908 kg) and was made in Chicago, USA, containing Frango mints. Forastero beans are the most commonly used for chocolate, but the tastier Crillo bean is also used. To’ak chocolate is one of the most expensive chocolates in the world, with each 50-gram (1.7 oz) bar coming in a handcrafted Spanish Elm wood box with an individual bar number. Chocolate melts at 93° F, just below body temperature, making it the only edible item to do so. Women crave and consume chocolate twice as much as men. Chocolate cravings cannot be satisfied by anything else. Chocolate increases serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain, acting as a mild anti-depressant. Although not scientifically proven, many believe chocolate is an aphrodisiac. Dan’s chocolate factory offers a chocolate-covered bacon burger. Cocoa butter, a highly concentrated natural fat, is used in chocolate and cosmetic products. Chocolate does not seem to raise blood cholesterol despite its high fat content. America consumes almost half the world’s chocolate. If all the Toblerone bars sold each year were placed end to end, they would stretch 62,000km (38,525 miles), which is longer than the Earth’s circumference. The amount of chocolate a country consumes is linked to the number of Nobel Laureates it produces. In 2009, 7.2 million tons of chocolate were consumed worldwide. In the pre-Columbian era, possible dinosaur fossils were ground and mixed with chocolate. Red M&M’s were replaced with orange pieces for almost ten years in the 1970s due to a study linking red food dye to cancer. Chocolate produces a more intense mental high and gets the heart pounding more than kissing. Hershey’s Kisses are named after the sound the chocolate makes as it falls from the machine onto the conveyor belt. Hershey’s produces 70 million Kisses a day, and enough to create a 300,000-mile (about 483,000 km) line of Kisses each year.
When chocolate has a white speckled layer, it is called “bloomed.” This occurs when the cocoa butter molecules within the chocolate rise to the surface and recrystallize over time. Bloomed chocolate is still edible, but it will be less flavorful and dry. Ben & Jerry’s created the first cookie dough ice cream after a customer suggestion. Firebox took the chocolate and chili combination to the extreme by producing the “instant regret chili chocolate” infused with 6.4 million Scoville chili extract. Napoleon always had chocolate with him for an energy boost. A single cacao pod contains around 42 beans. More than seven billion chocolate chips are consumed each year. Robert Cormier’s novel, “The Chocolate War,” was among the American Library Association’s “Top 100 banned/challenged books in 2000-2009” due to its controversial nature. Global cocoa production is expected to decrease for the third consecutive year, with 2015/16 production estimated at 4.1 million tons compared to 2014/15 production of 4.2 million tons. A cocoa tree requires almost a year to produce enough pods to make ten Hershey bars. Chocolate has three times more flavor compounds than red wine, with 600 versus red wine’s 200. The tree that produces chocolate is known as Theobroma cacao, which means “food of the gods.” A 12.5 stone human would need to consume approximately 12.5 lbs of unsweetened dark chocolate or 6.2 stone of milk chocolate to die from Theobromine, a poisonous compound found in chocolate. The ancient Maya are believed to be the first to grow cacao trees and consume chocolate. The Aztecs had to trade for cacao as they could not grow the trees themselves. The word “chocolate” derives from the Aztec word “xocoatl,” which was a bitter and spicy cacao bean-based drink. Chocolate was consumed as a liquid rather than a solid for 90% of its history. The largest chocolate ever made weighed 4,078 lbs and took three days to create in the Netherlands. Over 90% of the world’s cacao is grown on small family-run farms of less than 12 acres. In 2006, over 6.5 million tons of chocolate were traded worldwide. There is a recipe for chocolate and calamari soup, but only one person has been brave enough to try it, giving it four stars. In seventeenth century Mexico, a Spanish bishop died from chocolate after being injected with poison. Chocolate contains tryptophan which affects endorphin levels in the brain and increases serotonin, causing euphoria. Pure cocoa can help prevent tooth decay as naturally occurring chemicals in cocoa beans fight harmful bacteria in the mouth. Europeans consume around 40% of the world’s chocolate, and chocolate producers globally use 20% of the world’s peanut crops and 40% of all almonds grown. The microwave oven was inspired by chocolate. Percy Spence, a scientist who worked on WWII radar, discovered that magnetrons could be used to heat food quickly after his chocolate bar melted when he was near a magnetron.
The consumption of sugar-free chocolate in excess can cause a strong laxative effect, as warned by signs on buckets of defective chocolates at one producer’s factory. Cadbury World is located on the site of the original Cadbury factory, founded by Richard and George Cadbury in 1879. Nestlé’s second biggest product in 1929 was chocolate. The first heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day was created by Richard Cadbury, son of Cadbury founder John Cadbury, in 1861. In 1905, William Cadbury commissioned the design of the Cadbury logo by French designer George Auriol in Paris. Chocolate is a wonder of the world, capable of inspiring people to do almost anything in pursuit of its alluring taste. While chocolate can bring instant happiness and desire, it has also been used as a deadly weapon. Regardless of whether you indulge in chocolate from a major manufacturer, an artisan chocolatier, or a high-end supplier, always remember the hard work that goes into creating each and every piece of this mouth-watering treat.
FAQ
1. What is chocolate made of?
Chocolate is made from the beans of the cacao tree, which are harvested, fermented, and roasted. The beans are then ground into a paste, which is then mixed with sugar, milk, and other ingredients to create a variety of chocolate products.
2. How many different types of chocolate are there?
There are three main types of chocolate: dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. Dark chocolate contains a higher percentage of cacao and less sugar, while milk chocolate contains more sugar and milk. White chocolate contains cacao butter, but no cacao solids.
3. Is chocolate good for you?
Chocolate can be good for you in moderation. Dark chocolate, in particular, has been shown to have health benefits such as improving heart health, reducing inflammation, and improving brain function. However, it is still high in calories and should be consumed in moderation.
4. Where does most of the world’s chocolate come from?
Most of the world’s chocolate comes from West Africa, particularly Ghana and the Ivory Coast. These countries produce more than two-thirds of the world’s cocoa beans.
5. What is the most expensive chocolate in the world?
The most expensive chocolate in the world is made by a company called To’ak Chocolate, and it sells for around $260 per ounce. The chocolate is made from rare cacao beans from Ecuador and is aged for several years to develop its unique flavor.
Zayn Anderson is a prolific writer with a passion for uncovering the world’s intriguing facts. Armed with an insatiable curiosity, he delves into various subjects, from history and science to nature and technology.