7 Sweet Facts About Chocolate

[hue]

http://news.yahoo.com/7-sweet-facts-chocolate-135204140.html

Chocolate hearts have long been a staple of Valentine's Day, and while the best part of the delectable may be its heart-warming taste, many steps and technologies are involved in bringing that yummy to your tummy.

Here are 7 facts about chocolate's journey from tree to heart box.

[bemildred]

1. Hmmm ...

6. That bar of chocolate may do the heart good. For instance, a study published in 2010 in the European Heart Journal, in which researchers followed more than 19,000 adults between 35 and 65 for at least 10 years, found those who ate chocolate had lower blood pressure and a 39 percent lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke compared with those who ate the least amount of chocolate. [The Health Benefits of Chocolate]

If that was a coronary care drug, it would be considered one hell of a drug, and cheap too.

[handmade34]

2. another not so sweet fact (buy fair trade!)

http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign

"People around the world share a love of chocolate, one of the most delicious and pleasurable foods on earth. Thousands of children in West Africa are forced to labor in the production of cocoa, chocolate’s primary ingredient. The West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is the leading supplier of cocoa, accounting for more than 40% of global production. Low cocoa prices and thus the need for lower labor costs drive farmers to employ children as a means to survive. The US Department of State estimates that more than 109,000 children in Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor,” and that some 10,000 are victims of human trafficking or enslavement..."

http://www.worldwidechocolate.com/shop_greenblack.html