Chocolate chemistry – a food scientist explains how the beloved treat gets its flavor, texture and tricky reputation as an ingredient

Photo caption: There’s a lot of processing that happens between cacao beans in a pod and the chocolate at your table. Photo credit: Gustavo Ramirez / Moment via Getty Images. Article by Sheryl Barringer. The Conversation – February 6, 2023.

Whether it is enjoyed as creamy milk chocolate truffles, baked in a devilishly dark chocolate cake or even poured as hot cocoa, Americans on average consume almost 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of chocolate in a year. People have been enjoying chocolate for at least 4,000 years, starting with Mesoamericans who brewed a drink from the seeds of cacao trees. In the 16th and 17th centuries, both the trees and the beverage spread across the world, and chocolate today is a trillion-dollar global industry. […]

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