Facts About Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate is made from the roasted beans of the cacao tree, native to South America. Columbus ‘discovered’ these beans, and the returning crew of his fourth voyage took them to Europe. Originally cocoa was consumed as a beverage made by combining the ground beans with water. Chocolate was first seen in bar form in about 1910. It’s made mainly from cocoa solids and cocoa fat (aka cocoa butter) plus sugar. Milk chocolate also contains milk or milk powder. White chocolate (mostly sugar, milk powder and cocoa butter) lacks the cocoa solids that provide the health benefits of its darker cousins. Cocoa butter’s melting point is just below human body temperature - the reason chocolate melts so beautifully in your mouth.

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