Interesting Facts about Chocolate
- Chocolate was domesticated in Central America some 3500 years ago. Mesoamerican cultures of the Aztecs and Maya used it as food and currency.
- Europeans came in contact with the cocoa plant in the early 16th century, but the wide adoption of chocolate in Europe happened after almost 200 years.
- For a long time, chocolate production was costly. It became commonplace and used by the general population only after Industrial Revolution.
- Today, around two-thirds of the world’s cocoa production is located in West Africa, with almost half coming from Côte d'Ivoire.
- The most extensive bar of chocolate was created in 2000 in Italy, and it weighed 5 thousand pounds!
- On the first encounter of Europeans with cocoa, Christopher Columbus believed that his bean was used only as a currency.
- Recipe for a chocolate drink was protected as a state secret by Spaniards for over 100 years.
- Cacao is the bean. Cocoa is the product that is made from it.
- First Chocolate house opened in England in 1657.
- Cocoa can be grown only between latitudes 20° North and 20° South of the Equator.
- Cocoa is very caloric, ranging between 200 and 550 calories for 100g of chocolate.
- The world chocolate comes from the ancient Aztec word “xocolatl”, which means “bitter water”.
- Chocolate can significantly affect our metabolism, giving us mood-lifting agents and antioxidants that relieve our body from stress and pollution.
- Every Russian and American astronaut who spent more than one day in space has eaten chocolate in orbit.
- Eating dark chocolate moderately widens arteries and enables more effortless blood flow.
- The mere smell of chocolate can increase the number of theta waves in our brains, causing us to relax.
- Large doses of chocolate can cause head pain.
- Eating excessive amounts of chocolate can even cause death! The first of them was recorded in 17th century Mexico.
- Americans eat an average of 22 pounds of candy each year, evenly split between candy and chocolate. Europeans consume less.
- Country with the most consumed chocolate per capita is not the US, but Switzerland, followed by England.
- Fortunate chocolate accident caused the creation of microwaves. WW2 scientists tested new technology for radar when one candy melted in the pocket of the scientists Percy Spencer.
- Around 50-60 million children work daily on chocolate farms, mainly in conditions that could only be described as slavery.
