Scientists find a way to remove half the fat from chocolate using fruit juice
Scientists are hoping you can't tell - or taste - the difference between these sweets and the original fatty chocolates.
/ Journal of Material ChemistryFlavonols from chocolate may help patients with mild cognitive impairment
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"Everyone loves chocolate - but unfortunately we all know that many chocolate bars are high in fat," Stefan Bon said in a press release. "However, it's the fat that gives chocolate all the indulgent sensations that people crave - the silky smooth texture and the way it melts in the mouth but still has a 'snap' to it when you break it with your hand."
While flavonols in chocolate have been proven to help blood circulation and may even improve cognitive function, the fat content makes some health professionals weary to suggest it should be part of a balanced meal. But, scientists in the University of Warwick have found a way to take the cocoa butter and milk fats that go into the smooth chocolate and replace them with tiny drops of orange and cranberry juice.
Using a process called a Pickering emulsion, the butter and fats were replaced by droplets of juice less than 30 microns in diameter and prevented from combining into larger drops. Scientists tried out the new ingredients in milk, dark and white chocolate successfully, and the modified treats were able to retain the "mouth-feel" of the original with only half the fatl. The chocolates were also immune to the "sugar bloom," the coating that appears when chocolate is stored too long.
There was one downside: The chocolates did have a fruity flavor. For those who don't like the taste, the scientists also came up with a substitute using water and a small amount of ascorbic acid or vitamin C that retained the chocolate flavor.
"Our study is just the starting point to healthier chocolate - we've established the chemistry behind this new technique but now we're hoping the food industry will take our method to make tasty, lower-fat chocolate bars," he said.
The research was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry on Aug. 8.
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I do hope that eventually people will quit automatically equating "low fat" with healthy. More food and more people's health has been ruined by replacing fat with sugar than anything else.
Put differently, eating fat does not create fat. However, eating sugars substituted for healthful, plant-based fat is a demonstration project for ignorance.
We can only hope CBS reporter Castillo finally resolves to read a great deal more in-depth about the "fat issue" on which she presumes to report.
This article tells us nothing useful about chocolate or fat in relation to health.