Happy Easter- Fun Facts About Chocolate

Chocolate comes from a fruit tree; it’s made from a seed.

It takes 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate.
Each cacao tree produces approximately 2,500 beans.
Research to date supports that chocolate can be enjoyed as part of a balanced, heart-healthy diet and lifestyle.
The average serving of milk chocolate has about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaf coffee.
Because cacao trees are so delicate, farmers lose, on average, 30 percent of their crop each year.
U.S. chocolate manufacturers use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make milk chocolate.
Studies have demonstrated that one of the major saturated fats in chocolate does not raise cholesterol like other hard fats–meaning chocolate can be enjoyed in moderation.
Chocolate comes from a fruit tree; it’s made from a seed.
Theobroma Cacao is the tree that produces cocoa beans, and it means “food of the gods.” Carolus Linnaeus, the father of plant taxonomy, named it.
Approximately 3 million tons of cocoa beans are turned into chocolate products each year.

It takes two to four days to make a single-serving chocolate bar.

Chocolate contains two doses of cocoa butter—the natural amount from the bean, plus an extra dollop to bump up creaminess.
Cacao percentage determines the amount of cocoa bean products by weight in a chocolate.
“Cacao” is how you say “cocoa” in Spanish.
Champagne and sparkling wines are too acidic to pair well with milk or dark chocolate. Try pairing a sweet bubbly with white chocolate and red wine with dark. In general you want to match the sweetness level of the wine with the sweetness level of the chocolate.
Some cocoa certification programs are modelled on success with a similar product–coffee.
Chocolate can make dogs and cats ill–meaning no tastings for your furry friend, and more for you.
A farmer must wait four to five years for a cacao tree to produce its first beans.