Chocolate of the Day:
1 square
Ghirardelli
Intense Dark Series - Midnight Reverie - 86% cacao (very high percent for mass commercial brands)
Very Good - This bar is bittersweet, but that's fine with me.
Wt.: ~ .509 oz. (~11.25 g.) (out of 3.17 oz., or 90 grams, total bar)
Calories: ~ 79 calories
$ 0 (shared with a colleague)
Purchased from: I did not purchase. (Colleague purchased from Fry's Electronics store in Sunnvale, CA.)
Note: Fry's is a popular chain for those of us in the technology industry in Silicon Valley. Fry's stores also have a long narrow aisle that all customers are funneled through, before they're directed to one of a long line of cashiers. This aisle is stocked with various candy, chocolate, chips, and other impulse-buy items. It's a good place to do a quick scan for new/different chocolate brands.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
ChocolateBet: January 29, 2008
1 serving/bar
CocoaVia
Original Chocolate Bars (box of 5 individually wrapped servings)
Very Good - dark chocolate
Weight: 0.78 oz. (22.1 g) per bar; 3.90 oz. (110.5 g) total for whole box/5 servings
Calories: 100 calories for 1 bar
$?
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA
The CocoaVia line is marketed as being heart healthy. Text on the box states that the company uses a process that helps retain flavanols. They also add extra calcium.
Both these claims seem to address recent health-related topics that have come up in the press in the last few months: 1) the claim by some that many manufacturers use processes that result in the loss of flavanols in many chocolates, and 2) the findings that too much chocolate may result in weaker bones, created in part by acidic compounds that are found in chocolate (and other foods) that can block/slow absorption of calcium.
Perhaps equally important to encouraging healthy chocolate eating, these tasted good.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Chocolate News: Jan. 28, 2008 - Weaker bones?
Does Chocolate Cause Weaker Bones?
A recent Australian study followed 1,001 older women who ate chocolate regularly and found they had weaker bones. The study, which has been getting some press in the past week, points to a potential downside of eating chocolate daily - weaker bones. Many women are already concerned that losing bone mass as they age may lead to a higher incidence in fractures. Apparently oxalate/oxylate, an acid found in chocolate (and found in some other foods we eat as well), interferes with the body's ability to retain calcium. And sugar added to chocolates (which is one of several substances in our modern diet that is linked to excretion of calcium) probably doesn't help matters.
While researchers continue to confirm findings that chocolate is heart-healthy, this is the second piece of "mixed news" about chocolate in as many months. The British journal, Lancet, (last month, in December 2007) noted that many chocolate manufacturers remove some of the antioxidants, and health benefits, when they remove flavanols from chocolate. Presumably this is done to give chocolate a less bitter taste.
For more information, search for stories, such as "Chocolate linked to weak bones" (Indo-Asian News Service story posted from Perth - on 1/25/2008, and updated on 1/26/2008), and related stories that ran in the Daily Mail.
Check also, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/1/175
A recent Australian study followed 1,001 older women who ate chocolate regularly and found they had weaker bones. The study, which has been getting some press in the past week, points to a potential downside of eating chocolate daily - weaker bones. Many women are already concerned that losing bone mass as they age may lead to a higher incidence in fractures. Apparently oxalate/oxylate, an acid found in chocolate (and found in some other foods we eat as well), interferes with the body's ability to retain calcium. And sugar added to chocolates (which is one of several substances in our modern diet that is linked to excretion of calcium) probably doesn't help matters.
While researchers continue to confirm findings that chocolate is heart-healthy, this is the second piece of "mixed news" about chocolate in as many months. The British journal, Lancet, (last month, in December 2007) noted that many chocolate manufacturers remove some of the antioxidants, and health benefits, when they remove flavanols from chocolate. Presumably this is done to give chocolate a less bitter taste.
For more information, search for stories, such as "Chocolate linked to weak bones" (Indo-Asian News Service story posted from Perth - on 1/25/2008, and updated on 1/26/2008), and related stories that ran in the Daily Mail.
Check also, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/1/175
ChocolateBet: January 28, 2008
Chocolate of the Day:2 pieces/individually-wrapped squares
Hershey's - Cacao Reserve
Single Origin Collection
Java - Premium Milk Chocolate
Very Good
Weight: 14 g. in 2 pieces/ 4.2 oz. (119 g.) in total package
Calories: 76 calories (estimate) for 2 piecesCost: $1.74 (sale price)
Purchased from Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA
This milk chocolate (37% cacao) square from Hershey's was made with Criollo cacao beans from the Indonesian island nation of Java. It was very good - especially for a milk chocolate. I generally find most popular milk chocolates too sweet.
The individually wrapped squares were part of a larger "Cacao Reserve by Hershey's, Single Origin Collection" package of 3 different chocolates (Sao Tome, Arriba (Ecuador), and Java).
Sunday, January 27, 2008
ChocolateBet: January 27, 2008
Chocolate of the Day:
5 pieces
Dove
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Flavored Caramel
Very Good - Had tried the sugar-free version of these last year
Weight: 40 grams out of a total 5.80 oz. (164.4 g) for whole package
Calories: 200 calories for 1 serving/5 pieces
Cost: $2.50 for whole package
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA
ChocolateBet: January 26, 2008
2 pieces /individually-wrapped squares
Hershey's Cacao Reserve
Single Origin Collection
Sao Tome - Premium Dark Chocolate
Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) for 2 pieces / 4.2 oz. (119 g.) total package
Calories: 76 calories (estimate) for 2 pieces
Cost: $1.74 for total package
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA
These single origin dark chocolate (70% Forastero cacao from Sao Tome) squares from Hershey's were quite good, with slightly richer flavor than most other dark chocolate from other large commercial brands.
Most major brands are now marketing at least one higher-end dark specialty chocolate, probably to take advantage of the increase in market demand for premium dark and single origin chocolates. They may command higher prices (and yield higher margins) too; I'm not sure.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
ChocolateBet: January 25, 2008
2 pieces/individually-wrapped squares
Hershey's Cacao Reserve
Single Origin Collection
Arriba, Premium Dark Milk Chocolate
Very Good
Weight: 14 grams (estimate) /4.2 oz. (119 g.) (in entire package)
Calories: 76 calories (estimate) in 2 squares
Cost: $ 1.74 (sale price)
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA
This Arriba single origin square from Hershey's was very good. It was made from Arriba (Forastero) cacao from Southern Ecuador, and this 50% cacao chocolate reminded me of the "deep" milk chocolate flavor (in Vosges Mo's Bacon Bar) that I enjoyed recently.
Well, I think I'm closing in on the 500th day of eating a different chocolate each day, and I'm (happily) not running out of different chocolates to sample. And with Valentines Day just a few weeks away, there should be plenty of new chocolates in the stores to get me to at least March 2008.
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