Sunday, August 26, 2001		Article

JUST imagine...if you are a Swiss, you will get a whiff of chocolate as you fix chocolate-scented stamp on your mail! They carry a picture of renowned Swiss chocolates too. A 53-cent 90 cm postage stamp was released celebrating the centenary of Chocosuisse, Switzerland’s chocolate industry.

If you are an American, you will read newsletters on chocolates, printed in chocolate-scented ink! ‘Chocolatier’ is an American magazine dedicated entirely to this delight. Chocolate originated from Mayan and Azetic lands, abounding in wild cacao (meaning bitter juice) trees. Their seeds were crushed to extract a rich bitter beverage, a forerunner of modern hot cocoa. (from which chocolate is made). The Azetics called it chocolatl i.e. warm liquid. Archaeological finds reveal that Central Americans relished it as early as 1000 BC.

However, it was unknown to other cultures till Christopher Columbus became the first European to sip this exotic potion during his fourth journey to New World. But the credit of introducing it to Europe goes to Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes who tasted it in 1519 after conquering Mexico. In his letters to Spanish king Charless I, Cortes praised it as one which ‘builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food.’

As it was not discovered why chocolate produced energy, it came to be regarded as Devil’s temptation! No one under 60 was allowed to drink it. Even churchgoers were threatened with excommunication.

In USA during World War II buying a Hershey’s chocolate bar was considered very patriotic. Hershey a chocolate producer supplied to American soldiers in both World Wars, high energy chocolates called Field Ration D.

Mountaineers carry chocolates with them as routine food even as a part of mountain-rescue operations kit. Highly nutritious, thirty-five grams of it provides one-twelfth of body’s daily requirement of iron apart from minerals and salts like phosphorous and potassium as well as calcium derived from milk chocolate — so it’s not really junk food.

Scientists opine that a chemical phenylethylamine occurring naturally in chocolate, causes fluctuations of emotion, especially a feeling of ‘being in love.’ Today it’s the hallmark of Valentine’s Day, admen flaunting it as ‘gift for someone you love.’ Chocolates could prevent cancer due to presence of antioxidants called catechins (four times more than tea) and phenols as researched by Dr Ilja Arts of Netherland’s National Institute of Public Health and Environment.

Medical journal ‘Lancet’ reports that phenols in chocolate, like red wine, prevents heart disease by reducing presence of free radicals that damage cells and DNA causing disease. Phenols prevent fat-like substances in bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging arteries.

As it is mistakenly believed chocolate do not cause dental cavities or decay. Osaka University’s Japanese researchers cite in New Scientist that anti-bacterial agents in cocoa bean husk offset chocolate’s high sugar content, thereby reducing chances of cavities. Normally discarded during production, it can be an effective bacteria-fighting ingredient in toothpaste and mouthwash, adding it to chocolates and chocolate confections also.