Ten Things to know about Chocolate

For many of us, life without chocolate is difficult to imagine and The Crazy Catering Company have pulled together 10 interesting things that you didn’t know about Chocolate so you don’t have to feel guilty.

1. Chocolate in Europe
Don Hernán Cortés was the first person to bring cocoa beans back to Spain in 1528 from Central America and the custom of drinking chocolate began as a result.

2. Eating chocolate
The first solid chocolate was sold in 1847 by Fry & Sons in Bristol

3. Milk and white chocolate
In 1875 a Swiss manufacturer, Daniel Peters produced the first milk chocolate bar and white chocolate as invented in the 1930s but it isn’t really chocolate because it does not contain any cocoa only.

4. Swiss chocolate
The Swiss consume more chocolate than any other population in the world. There are many famous Swiss chocolate makers include Rodolphe Lindt, Henri Nestlé, Philippe Suchard, Jean Tobler and Charles Amédée Kohler.

5. Chocolate boxes
We have say a big thank you to Richard Cadbury who introduced the first ever chocolate box in 1868 and late on created chocolate boxes for Valentine's Day and started the tradition of giving chocolate on February 14.

6. Love
We thought giving chocolate as a token of love on Valentine’s Day was due to the release of endorphins which is similar to when we fall in love.

7. Brain Power
A professor at the University of Nottingham discovered that that drinking cocoa that is rich in flavanols improves blood flow to key areas of the brain for two to three hours.

8. Got a tickle
As the Winter season is fast approaching, a UK study found that theobromine, a component in cocoa, may be more effective as a cough medicine than standard drug treatments.

9. Healthy Heart
Researchers have found that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate and cocoa, contain antioxidants that may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

10. Minerals
Chocolate is full of minerals and contains potassium, magnesium and calcium.