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Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring other foods.
Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree ( Theobroma cacao); unprocessed, they taste intensely bitter. In making chocolate, these seeds are usually fermented to develop the flavor. They are then dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to reveal nibs, which are ground to chocolate liquor: unadulterated chocolate in rough form. The liquor can be processed to separate its two components, cocoa solids and cocoa butter, or shaped and sold as unsweetened baking chocolate. By adding sugar, sweetened chocolates are produced, which can be sold simply as dark chocolate (a.k.a., plain chocolate), or, with the addition of milk, can be made into milk chocolate. Making milk chocolate with cocoa butter and without cocoa solids produces white chocolate. In some chocolates, other ingredients such as vegetable oils, Emulsion and flavorings are included.
Chocolate is one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world, and many foodstuffs involving chocolate exist, particularly , including chocolate cake, mousse, and cookies. Many candy are filled with or coated with sweetened chocolate. , either made of solid chocolate or other ingredients coated in chocolate, are eaten as snacks. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes (such as eggs, hearts, and coins) are traditional on certain Western holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, and Hanukkah gelt. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, such as chocolate milk, hot chocolate and chocolate liqueur.
The cacao tree was first used as a source for food in what is today Ecuador at least 5,300 years ago. civilizations widely consumed cacao beverages, and in the 16th century, one of these beverages, chocolate, was introduced to Europe. Until the 19th century, chocolate was a drink consumed by societal elite. After then, technological and cocoa production changes led to chocolate becoming a solid, mass-consumed food. Today, the cocoa beans for most chocolate is produced in West African countries, particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana, which contribute about 60% of the world's cocoa supply. The presence of child labor, particularly child slavery and trafficking, in cocoa bean production in these countries has received significant media attention.
Despite the uncertainty about its Nahuatl origin, there is some agreement that chocolate likely derives from the Nawat language word chikola:tl. However, whether chikola:tl means 'cacao-beater' (referring to whisking cocoa to create foam), is contested, as the meaning of chico is unknown. According to anthropologist Kathryn Sampeck, chocolate originally referred to one cacao beverage among many, which included annatto and was made in what is today Guatemala. According to Sampeck, it became the generic word for cacao beverages , when the Izalcos from that area were the most notable producers of cacao.
While Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés may have been the first European to encounter chocolate when he observed it in the court of Moctezuma II in 1520, it proved to be an acquired taste, and it took until 1585 for the first official recording of a shipment of cocoa beans to Europe. Chocolate was believed to be an aphrodisiac and medicine, and spread across Europe in the 17th century, sweetened, served warm and flavored with familiar spices. It was initially primarily consumed by the elite, with expensive cocoa supplied by colonial plantations in the Americas. In the 18th century, it was considered southern European, Aristocracy and Catholic Church and was still produced in a similar way to the way it had been produced by the Aztecs., was produced by Fry's in 1866.]]Starting in the 18th century, chocolate production was improved. In the 19th century, engine-powered milling was developed, and in 1828, Coenraad Johannes van Houten received a patent for a process making Dutch cocoa. This removed cocoa butter from chocolate liquor (the product of milling), and permitted large scale production of chocolate. Other developments in the 19th century, including the melanger (a mixing machine), modern milk chocolate, the conching process to make chocolate smoother and change the flavor meant a worker in 1890 could produce fifty times more chocolate with the same labor than they could before the Industrial Revolution, and chocolate became a food to be eaten rather than drunk. As production moved from the Americas to Asia and Africa, mass markets in Western nations for chocolate opened up.
In the early 20th century, British chocolate producers including Cadbury and Fry's faced controversy over the labor conditions in the Portuguese cacao industry in Africa. A 1908 report by a Cadbury agent described conditions as "de facto slavery." While conditions somewhat improved with a boycott by chocolate makers, slave labor among African cacao growers again gained public attention in the early 21st century. During the 20th century, chocolate production further developed, with development of the tempering technique to improve the snap and gloss of chocolate and the addition of lecithin to improve texture and consistency. White chocolate and couverture chocolate were developed in the 20th century and the bean-to-bar trade model began.
Other forms of eating chocolate exist, these include raw chocolate (made with unroasted beans) and ruby chocolate. An additional popular form of eating chocolate, gianduja, is made by incorporating hazelnut butter (typically hazelnut) to the chocolate paste.
The scientific name, Theobroma, means "food of the gods". The fruit, called a cocoa pod, is ovoid, long and wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighing about when ripe.
Cacao trees are small, understory trees that need rich, well-drained soils. They naturally grow within 20° of either side of the equator because they need about 2000 mm of rainfall a year, and temperatures in the range of . Cacao trees cannot tolerate a temperature lower than . The genome of the cacao tree was sequenced in 2010.
Traditionally, cacao was understood to be divided into three varieties: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. New genetic research has not found a genetic backing for this division, and it has identified eleven genetic clusters.
After fermentation, the beans are dried to prevent mold growth. Where the weather permits it, this is done by spreading the beans out in the sun for five to seven days.
The dried beans are then transported to a chocolate manufacturing facility. The beans are cleaned (removing twigs, stones, and other debris), dry roasting, and graded. Next, the shell of each bean is removed to extract the nib.
The penultimate process is called conching. A conche is a container filled with metal beads, which act as grinders. The refined and blended chocolate mass is kept in a liquid state by frictional heat. Before conching, chocolate has an uneven and gritty texture. The conching process produces cocoa and sugar particles smaller than the tongue can detect (typically around 20 micrometre) and reduces rough edges, hence the smooth feel in the mouth. The length of the conching process determines the final smoothness and quality of the chocolate. After the process is complete, the chocolate mass is stored in tanks heated to about until final processing.
After conching, chocolate is tempered to crystallize a small amount of fat, allowing the remaining fats to crystallize with an overall gloss.
After chocolate has been tempered, it is molded into different shapes, including chocolate bars and chocolate chips.
Chocolate bloom is caused by storage temperature fluctuating or exceeding , while sugar bloom is caused by temperature below or excess humidity. A fat bloom can be distinguished by touch; it disappears if the surface of affected chocolate is lightly rubbed. Although visually unappealing, chocolate suffering from bloom is safe for consumption and taste is unaffected. Bloom can be reversed by retempering the chocolate or using it for any use that requires melting the chocolate. (2025). 9782080200815, Flammarion, S.A.. ISBN 9782080200815
Chocolate is generally stored away from other foods, as it can absorb aromas. To avoid this, chocolate is packed or wrapped, then stored in darkness, in ideal humidity and temperature conditions.
One hundred grams of milk chocolate is an excellent source (over 19% of the Daily Value, DV) of riboflavin, vitamin B12 and the dietary minerals manganese, phosphorus and zinc. Chocolate is a good source (10–19% DV) of calcium, magnesium and iron.
The European Food Safety Authority recommended a tolerable weekly intake for cadmium of 2.5 per kg of body weight for Europeans, indicating that consuming chocolate products caused exposure of about 4% among all foods eaten.. (Implicitly repealed by .) Maximum levels for baby foods and chocolate/cocoa products were established under Commission Regulation (EU) No 488/2014.. (Implicitly repealed by .) 1986 California Proposition 65 requires a warning label on chocolate products having more than 4.1 mg of cadmium per daily serving of a single product.
Chocolate and cocoa contain moderate to high amounts of oxalate, which may increase the risk of .
A typical dog will normally experience great intestinal distress after eating less than of dark chocolate, but will not necessarily experience bradycardia or tachycardia unless it eats at least a half a kilogram (1.1 lb) of milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has 2 to 5 times more theobromine and thus is more dangerous to dogs. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, approximately 1.3 grams of baker's chocolate per kilogram of a dog's body weight (0.02 oz/lb) is sufficient to cause symptoms of toxicity. For example, a typical baker's chocolate bar would be enough to bring about symptoms in a dog. In the 20th century, there were reports that mulch made from cocoa bean shells is dangerous to dogs and livestock.
Overall evidence is insufficient to determine the relationship between chocolate consumption and acne. Various studies point not to chocolate, but to the high glycemic nature of certain foods, like sugar, corn syrup, and other simple carbohydrates, as potential causes of acne, along with other possible dietary factors.
Food, including chocolate, is not typically viewed as addiction. Some people, however, may want or crave chocolate, leading to a self-described term, chocoholic.
By some Urban legend, chocolate is considered to be a mood enhancer, such as by increasing aphrodisiac or stimulating cognition, but there is little scientific evidence that such effects are consistent among all chocolate consumers. If mood improvement from eating chocolate occurs, there is not enough research to indicate whether it results from the favorable flavor or from the stimulant effects of its constituents, such as caffeine, theobromine, or their parent molecule, xanthine. A 2019 review reported that chocolate consumption does not improve depressive mood.
Reviews support a short-term effect of lowering blood pressure by consuming cocoa products, but there is no evidence of long-term cardiovascular health benefit. Chocolate and cocoa are under preliminary research to determine if consumption affects the risk of certain cardiovascular diseases or enhances cognitive abilities. While daily consumption of cocoa flavanols (minimum dose of 200 mg) appears to benefit platelet and vascular function, there is no good evidence to indicate an effect on or . Research has also shown that consuming dark chocolate does not substantially affect blood pressure.
Chocolates that are organic food or fair trade certified carry labels accordingly.
In the EU a product can be sold as chocolate if it contains up to 5% vegetable oil, and must be labeled as "family milk chocolate" rather than "milk chocolate" if it contains 20% milk. Sweet victory for UK chocolate BBC News (15 March 2000)
According to Canadian Food and Drug Regulations, a "chocolate product" is a food product that is sourced from at least one "cocoa product" and contains at least one of the following: "chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate, sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate". A "cocoa product" is defined as a food product that is sourced from cocoa beans and contains "cocoa nibs, cocoa liquor, cocoa mass, unsweetened chocolate, bitter chocolate, chocolate liquor, cocoa, low-fat cocoa, cocoa powder, or low-fat cocoa powder".
As of 2007, roughly two-thirds of the world's cocoa was produced in West Africa, with 43% sourced from Ivory Coast, which commonly used child labor.McKenzie, David and Swails, Brent (19 January 2012) Slavery in Cocoa fields: a horrible "normal" . CNN. That year some 50 million people around the world depended on cocoa as a source of livelihood. in the UK, most chocolatiers purchase their chocolate from them, to melt, mold and package to their own design. As of 2012, the Ivory Coast is the largest producer of cocoa in the world.
The two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy are chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Chocolate makers use harvested cocoa beans and other ingredients to produce couverture chocolate (covering). Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.).
Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solids content or by substituting cocoa butter with another fat. Cocoa growers object to allowing the resulting food to be called "chocolate", due to the risk of lower demand for their crops.
Guylian is best known for its chocolate sea shells; Cadbury for its Dairy Milk and Creme Egg. The Hershey Company, the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America, produces the Hershey Bar and Hershey's Kisses. Mars Incorporated, a large privately owned U.S. corporation, produces Mars Bar, Milky Way, M&M's, Twix, and Snickers. Lindt is known for its truffle balls and gold foil-wrapped Easter bunnies.
Food conglomerates Nestlé SA and Mondelēz both have chocolate brands. Nestlé acquired Rowntree's in 1988 and now markets chocolates under their brand, including Smarties (a chocolate candy) and Kit Kat (a chocolate bar); Kraft Foods through its 1990 acquisition of Jacobs Suchard, now owns Milka and Suchard. Fry's, Trebor Basset and the fair trade brand Green & Black's also belongs to the group.
As of 2017, approximately 2.1 million children in Ghana and Ivory Coast were involved in farming cocoa, carrying heavy loads, clearing forests, and being exposed to pesticides. As of 2018, a 3-year Pilot experiment – conducted by Nestlé with 26,000 farmers mostly located in Ivory Coast – observed a 51% decrease in the number of children doing hazardous jobs in cocoa farming. The US Department of Labor formed the Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group as a public-private partnership with the governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast to address child labor practices in the cocoa industry. The International Cocoa Initiative involving major cocoa manufacturers established the Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System to monitor thousands of farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast for child labor conditions, but the program reached less than 20% of the child laborers.
In April 2018, the Cocoa Barometer report stated: "Not a single company or government is anywhere near reaching the sector-wide objective of the elimination of child labor, and not even near their commitments of a 70% reduction of child labor by 2020". They cited persistent poverty, the absence of schools, increasing world cocoa demand, more intensive farming of cocoa, and continued exploitation of child labor.
Chocolate is used as a flavoring product in many , such as , chocolate brownies, chocolate mousse and chocolate chip cookies. Numerous types of candy and contain chocolate, either as a filling (e.g., M&M's) or as a coating (e.g., chocolate-coated raisins or chocolate-coated peanuts).
Some non-alcoholic beverages contain chocolate, such as chocolate milk, hot chocolate, chocolate milkshakes and tejate. Some alcoholic liqueurs are flavored with chocolate, such as chocolate liqueur and crème de cacao. Chocolate is a popular flavor of ice cream and pudding, and chocolate sauce is a commonly added as a topping on ice cream . The caffè mocha is an espresso beverage containing chocolate.
In 1964, Roald Dahl published a children's novel titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The novel centers on a poor boy named Charlie Bucket who takes a tour through the greatest chocolate factory in the world, owned by the eccentric Willy Wonka. Two film adaptations of the novel were produced: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). A third adaptation, an origin prequel film titled Wonka, was released in 2023. Chocolat, a 1999 novel by Joanne Harris, was adapted for film in Chocolat which was released a year later.
Some artists have utilized chocolate in their art; Dieter Roth was influential in this beginning with his works in the 1960s casting human and animal figures in chocolate, which used the chocolate's inevitable decay to comment on contemporary attitudes towards the permanence of museum displays. Other works have played on the audience's ability to consume displayed chocolate, encouraged in Sonja Alhäuser's Exhibition Basics (2001) and painfully disallowed in Edward Ruscha's Chocolate Room (1970). In the 1980s and 90s, performance artists Karen Finley and Janine Antoni used chocolate's cultural popular associations of excrement and consumption, and desirability respectively to comment on the status of women in society.
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