Exciting news for chocolate lovers (show me a homo sapien who isn’t?). The white-coated people in labs have stumbled upon an ingenious way for you to savour the flavour without all the fat. According to an article in the Independent, a healthier chocolate has been devised by substituting “cocoa butter and milk fats with fruit juice.”
By adding small amounts of orange, cranberry or apple juice, the chocolate gains a slightly fruity taste and can apparently be added to all forms of chocolate. Most people already know that dark chocolate goes particularly well paired with orange or cranberry, so what’s most surprising is that this concoction has taken science so long to engineer.
If all goes well, you’ll have the researchers at the University of Warwick to thank for revolutionizing chocolate.
“We have established the chemistry that's a starting point for healthier chocolate confectionary,” said lead researcher Dr Stefan Bon. “This approach maintains the things that make chocolate ‘chocolatey,’ but with fruit juice instead of fat. Now we're hoping the food industry will take the next steps and use the technology to make tasty, lower-fat chocolate bars and other candy…”
(Yes, please, food industry. If you’re listening, please get on this. We’re counting on you!)
The article states that a 57g portion of dark chocolate currently contains around 13g of fat, and most of it the unhealthy saturated variety. But chocolate also contains plant flavonoids and antioxidants known to boost health.
Are you a purist or would you eat the new fruity chocolate?
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