Kutoa - Chocolate Banana bar - Apr. 21, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Kutoa Health Company, LLC
Chocolate Banana bar
Good+
Weight: 1.7 oz. (48 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 174 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.89 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Seeds Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Banana bar (whole fruits and chocolate) with chia and flax seeds was produced by Kutoa Health Company, LLC (Austin, TX).

The company, a Certified B Corporation*, developed a "Buy a bar, feed a child" initiative as part of their mission. If you buy one bar, part of the proceeds go toward feeding a hungry child in need.

This vegan, gluten and soy free, Non-GMO Project Certified bar had an intriguing green forest, banana, date and chocolate aroma and flavor, and soft, mildly chewy texture. It tasted naturally sweet without being too sweet. Gluten free oats and pea protein helped to mellow the acidic tang that some fruit and date bars have, but without the odd starchy quality that bars with these ingredients sometimes have.

Plant and Seed Identity Issues
So, below are some fun facts about chocolate, seeds and "nuts" concerning posts this past month:

• Chocolate is made from cacao beans—and these "beans" are really seeds.
• Banana is technically an herb and fruit-bearing plant. And the edible fruits are, botanically speaking, giant berries.
• Dates are fruits, but the pits or seeds are sometimes used to feed livestock.
• Peanuts are not nuts or seeds; they are legumes.
• Cashew nuts, pine nuts, almonds are seeds. (Almonds are considered "stone-like seeds.")
• And, bonus points for those of you that remember this one: Unlike Brazil nuts, cashews really do come from Brazil. And, Brazil nuts are large seeds and not nuts.

*B Corporations are for-profit companies that are certified by a nonprofit (B Lab). Companies are evaluated on their social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. 

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.