The first ever chocolate bar was\u00a0invented in 1847\u00a0by Joseph Fry, \u00a0so you can say chocolate has been around for a very long time, the soldiers during the Revolutionary War were sometimes paid in chocolate!\u00a0There’s no denying us Brits love our chocolate, we spend more on chocolate than any country in Europe,\u00a0consuming \u00a0\u00a33.5 billion worth of chocolate last year! So what is it about chocolate we all love? A part from chocolate been so delicious, it\u00a0actually gives you a more intense mental high and gets your heart pounding\u00a0more than kissing\u00a0does.<\/p>\n
To celebrate Chocolate Week (12th – 18th October) we have searched high and low to find the most interesting facts about chocolate that you probably don’t have a clue about!<\/p>\n
1) Although we tend to think of chocolate as a solid today, for 90% of its history it was consumed in liquid form. This is due to the fact that some\u00a0of the earliest European cocoa-makers were apothecaries seeking medicinal uses of the plant.\u00a0Cacao seeds contain significant amounts of naturally occurring flavonoids which are connected with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers.<\/p>\n
2) There is a rare fourth kind of chocolate in addition to the classic milk, dark, and white varieties:\u00a0blond chocolate. Us chocolate lovers have the possibility to try something new, \u00a0so get tasting that blond chocolate!<\/p>\n
3) The\u00a0largest chocolate bar\u00a0ever weighed just over 12,770 pounds and was created by Thornton’s, who would like to take this home?<\/p>\n
4) Chocolate milk is an effective\u00a0post-workout recovery drink. \u00a0“Chocolate milk provides carbohydrate replenishment to your muscles \u2014 something they can metabolize,” said Jason Karp.\u00a0So next time you hit the gym, pack your chocolate milk.<\/p>\n
5) White Chocolate technically isn’t chocolate, it actually doesn’t contain any chocolate. Its main ingredient is coco butter, a pale yellow vegetable fat that comes from a coco bean but isn’t chocolate.<\/p>\n