By Gina Garrett
AmesEats Flavors writer
Love chocolate with all of your heart?
The main ingredient in chocolate is cacao, which is a seed from the cacao tree. When a chocolate bar is made, sugar, dairy and other fillers are added to the cacao to make it taste sweet and creamy. The higher the cacao content, the less sweet your chocolate will be but the healthier it is. Cacao has antioxidants, which in small amounts, might be good for your cardiovascular system. But for these heart healthy benefits, the cacao content should be as high as possible — more than 70 percent being best. There is a great selection of chocolates at the store. Experiment with taste buds to find the highest percentage of cacao that you still think tastes enjoyable.
Love chocolate and your four-legged friends?
Is it possible to get vegan chocolate? Yes, just read the labels and avoid dairy ingredients like milk. If you see cocoa butter in the ingredient list, don’t panic, that is the fat of the cacao bean, not an animal butter. If you see butteroil, however, it is a dairy product and steer clear. For the purest chocolate treats, look beyond Hershey’s bars and pick up some organic or gourmet varieties. They may cost more but you can eat less because they taste better.
Love chocolate and your neighbors?
Buy Fair Trade certified chocolate when possible. It helps ensure profits are fairly distributed to people living in tropical regions who bring chocolate and helps prevent global land degradation. There are organizations dedicated to ensuring our chocolate is environmentally responsible and doesn’t use child labor in the process. After all, you want to really be able to enjoy your chocolate guilt-free. To find out more about cacao visit: www.worldcocoafoundation.org.
