Chocolate of the Day:BochaSweet LLC
BochaBar Chocolate Peanut Butter bar
Good ++
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 260 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $N/A - part of a larger order
Purchased from: BochaSweet (online order)Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Nut Butter Theme Week.
Today's Chocolate Peanut Butter bar was from BochaSweet LLC (Las Vegas, NV). The company has focused on producing a healthier bar with superior versions of sugars and fats.
This bar tasted like a pressed, chewy chocolate peanut butter protein bar, with no off flavors, and with a sweetness that was natural without being too sweet (thank you!). It was substantial and filling in a satisfying way.
The company's sugar alternative (BochaSweet), used to sweeten today's bar is made from kabocha and is being incorporated into two BochaBars. Today's bar) contains chocolate, and the other is a vanilla almond flavor, with no chocolate.
Kabocha is a dark green, pumpkin-like squash rich in Vitamins A, B and C, manganese and other nutrients. Kabocha has also been a food staple in Japan for many centuries, and is consumed in some regions of Japan where populations have longer than average lifespans.
Whether BochaSweet's (pentose) extract, in its processed form, still contains all of the kabocha nutrients mentioned above, I do not know. But the resulting sugar substitute (which looks like sugar) is supposed to have a minimal effect on insulin--one of the holy grails, for sugar alternatives, along with a naturally clean, sweet taste, which BochaSweet also seems to have.
A sweetener like this that doesn't result in glucose spikes and lacks any bitter aftertaste should peak interest in the chocolate and confection industry. One possible barrier to the adoption of this sweetener may be its relatively high cost, at least initially.*
And now, on to fats...Consumers have grown wary of vegetable oils in processed foods and bars.
This BochaBar contained MCT oil, that contains medium-chain triglycerides. It is often extracted from coconut oil or palm oil. MCTs are made of of shorter chains of fatty acids than some other fats in our diet, are naturally found in coconut and palm oils as well as goat's milk and (human) breast milk. They are thought to be a bit easier to digest than longer chains found in other food sources.
*Higher adoption rates and volume can sometimes bring down costs over time.
