Chocolate in popular culture

Holidays

Chocolate is one of the most popular treats given on holidays. On Valentine's Day, a box of chocolate is given, usually with flowers and a greeting card. It is given on other holidays, including Christmas, Thanksgiving, and birthdays, although no special chocolate creation is common on these holidays. On Easter, chocolate eggs are popular gifts. A chocolate egg is a confectionery made primarily of chocolate, and can either be solid, hollow, or filled with cream.

Books and film

Chocolate has been the center of several successful book and film adaptations. In 1964, Roald Dahl published a children's novel titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The novel centers around a poor boy named Charlie Bucket who takes a tour through the greatest chocolate factory in the world, owned by Willy Wonka. Two film adaptations of the novel were produced. The first was Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, a 1971 film which later became a cult classic. Thirty-four years later, a second film adaptation was produced, titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The 2005 film was very well received by critics^[83] and was one of the highest grossing films of its year, earning over US$470,000,000 worldwide.^[84] Charlie and the Chocolate Factory78th Academy Awards, where it was nominated for Best Costume Design for Gabriella Pesucci.^[85] was also recognized at the

Chocolat is a 1999 novel by Joanne Harris. It tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a young mother, whose confections change the lives of the townspeople through magic. The 2000 film adaptation, Chocolat, also proved successful, grossing over US$150,000,000 worldwide,^[86] and receiving Academy Award and Golden GlobeBest Picture, Best Actress, and Best Original Score.^[87][88] nominations for

Manufacturers

Many chocolate manufacturers have created products from chocolate bars to fudge, hoping to attract more consumers with each creation. Both The Hershey Company and Mars have become the largest manufacturers in the world. Major examples include Cadbury, Nestlé and Lindt.

The Hershey Company is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America.^[81] Its headquarters is in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town permeated by the aroma of cocoa on some days,^[82] and home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. Hershey's candies and other products are sold worldwide.^[81]

The Hershey Company reached fame mainly because of three of its creations: the Hershey bar, Hershey's kissesReese's Peanut Butter Cups. and

Mars, Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery and other food products with US$21 billion in annual sales in 2006. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, USA, the company is entirely owned by the Mars family, making it one of the largest privately owned U.S. corporations. Mars is most famous for its eponymous Mars Bar, as well as other confectionery such as Milky Way, M&M's, Twix, Skittles and Snickers.

Toxicity in animals

In sufficient amounts, the theobromine found in chocolate is toxic to non-human animals such as horses, dogs, parrots, small rodents, and cats because they are unable to metabolise the chemical effectively.^[1] If they are fed chocolate, the theobromine will remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours, and these animals may experience epileptic seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding, and eventually death. Medical treatment involves inducing vomiting within two hours of ingestion, or contacting a veterinarian.

A typical 20-kilogram (40-lb) dog will normally experience great intestinal distress after eating less than 240 grams (8.5 oz) of dark chocolate, but will not necessarily experience bradycardia or tachycardia unless it eats at least a half a kilogram (1.1 lb) of milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has 2 to 5 times more theobromine and thus is more dangerous to dogs. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, approximately 1.3 grams of baker's chocolate per kilogram of a dog's body weight (0.02 oz/lb) is sufficient to cause symptoms of toxicity. For example, a typical 25-gram (0.88 oz) baker's chocolate bar would be enough to bring about symptoms in a 20-kilogram (44 lb) dog. Of course, baking chocolate is rarely consumed directly due to its unpleasant taste, but other dark chocolates' canine toxicities may be extrapolated based on this figure. As dogs like the taste of chocolate products as much as humans do, and are capable of finding and eating quantities much larger than typical human servings, they should be kept out of their reach. There are reports that mulch made from cacao bean shells is dangerous to pets (and other animals).^[70][71][72] Treats made from carob can be used to substitute and pose no health threat to animals.

Health

While chocolate is regularly eaten for pleasure, there are potential beneficial health effects of eating chocolate. Cocoa or dark chocolate benefits the circulatory system.^[49] Other beneficial effects suggested include anticancer, brain stimulator, cough preventor and antidiarrhoeal effects.^[50] An aphrodisiac effect is yet unproven.

On the other hand, eating large quantities of any energy-rich food such as chocolate increases risk of obesity. There is concern of mild lead poisoning for some types of chocolate. Chocolate is toxic to many animals because of insufficient capacity to metabolize theobromine.^[1]

A study reported by the BBC indicated that melting chocolate in one's mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing, and also lasted four times as long after the activity had ended.

Storage

Chocolate is very sensitive to temperature and humidity. Ideal storage temperatures are between 15 and 17 °C (59 to 63 °F), with a relative humidity of less than 50%. Chocolate is generally stored away from other foods as it can absorb different aromas. Ideally, chocolates are packed or wrapped, and placed in proper storage with the correct humidity and temperature. Additionally chocolate is frequently stored in a dark place or protected from light by wrapping paper. Various types of "blooming" effects can occur if chocolate is stored or served improperly. If refrigerated or frozen without containment, chocolate can absorb enough moisture to cause a whitish discoloration, the result of fat or sugar crystals rising to the surface. Moving chocolate from one temperature extreme to another, such as from a refrigerator on a hot day can result in an oily texture. Although visually unappealing, chocolate suffering from bloom is perfectly safe for consumption.

Tempering

The final process is called tempering. Uncontrolled crystallization of cocoa butter typically results in crystals of varying size, some or all large enough to be clearly seen with the naked eye. This causes the surface of the chocolate to appear mottled and matte, and causes the chocolate to crumble rather than snap when broken.^[43] The uniform sheen and crisp bite of properly processed chocolate are the result of consistently small cocoa butter crystals produced by the tempering process.

The fats in cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (polymorphous crystallization).^[43] The primary purpose of tempering is to assure that only the best form is present. The six different crystal forms have different properties.

Crystal	Melting temp.	Notes
I	17 °C (63 °F)	Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
II	21 °C (70 °F)	Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
III	26 °C (78 °F)	Firm, poor snap, melts too easily.
IV	28 °C (82 °F)	Firm, good snap, melts too easily.
V	34 °C (94 °F)	Glossy, firm, best snap, melts near body temperature (37 °C).
VI	36 °C (97 °F)	Hard, takes weeks to form.

Making chocolate considered "good" is about forming as many type V crystals as possible. This provides the best appearance and texture and creates the most stable crystals so the texture and appearance will not degrade over time. To accomplish this, the temperature is carefully manipulated during the crystallization.

Generally, the chocolate is first heated to 45 °C (115 °F) to melt all six forms of crystals.^[43] Next, the chocolate is cooled to about 27 °C (80 °F), which will allow crystal types IV and V to form. At this temperature, the chocolate is agitated to create many small crystal "seeds" which will serve as nuclei to create small crystals in the chocolate. The chocolate is then heated to about 31 °C (88 °F) to eliminate any type IV crystals, leaving just type V. After this point, any excessive heating of the chocolate will destroy the temper and this process will have to be repeated. However, there are other methods of chocolate tempering used. The most common variant is introducing already tempered, solid "seed" chocolate. The temper of chocolate can be measured with a chocolate temper meter to ensure accuracy and consistency. A sample cup is filled with the chocolate and placed in the unit which then displays or prints the results.

Two classic ways of manually tempering chocolate are:

• Working the molten chocolate on a heat-absorbing surface, such as a stone slab, until thickening indicates the presence of sufficient crystal "seeds"; the chocolate is then gently warmed to working temperature.
• Stirring solid chocolate into molten chocolate to "inoculate" the liquid chocolate with crystals (this method uses the already formed crystal of the solid chocolate to "seed" the molten chocolate).

Chocolate tempering machines (or temperers) with computer controls can be used for producing consistently tempered chocolate, particularly for large volume applications.

Production

Roughly two-thirds of the entire world's cocoa is produced in Western Africa, with 43% sourced from Côte d'Ivoire.^[29] According to the World Cocoa Foundation, some 50 million people around the world depend on cocoa as a source of livelihood.^[2] The industry is dominated by three chocolate makers, Barry Callebaut, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland Company. In the UK, 99.999% of chocolatiers, whether they be large companies such as Cadbury Schweppes or small independents, purchase their chocolate from them, to melt, mold and package to their own design.^[30] Despite some disagreement in the EU about the definition, chocolate is any product made primarily of cocoa solids and cocoa fat. The different flavors of chocolate can be obtained by varying the time and temperature when roasting the beans, by adjusting the relative quantities of the cocoa solids and cocoa fat, and by adding non-chocolate ingredients.

Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solid content or by substituting cocoa butter with a non-cocoa fat. Cocoa growers object to allowing the resulting food to be called "chocolate", due to the risk of lower demand for their crops.^[2]

There are two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy, chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Chocolate makers use harvested cacao beans and other ingredients to produce couverture chocolate. Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.)