These 19 Delicious Facts About Chocolate Will Make Your Mouth Water

    Life is like a box of chocolates...

    aakritianand1
    by aakritianand1

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Cacao beans, where chocolate comes from, were once used as currency.

    Zulkarnaini Ramli / Getty Images / iStockphoto

    2. The average person in Switzerland consumes 8.8kg of chocolate every single year.

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    That makes Switzerland the country with the highest consumption of chocolate, per capita.

    3. Soldiers deployed in World War II had chocolate bars in their rations.

    Fun Warhammer 40,000 Lore Fact:

    "Corpse Starch" is a common form of survival ration eaten by both Imperial Guard soldiers and the less fortunate denizens of Hive Worlds in the Imperium of Man.

    Formally called "soylens viridians," these bar shaped rations get their less formal… pic.twitter.com/TwZzyPNbbg

    — Marshal Bohemond (@HMBohemond) September 6, 2023
    Twitter: @HMBohemond
    Hershey's came up with the D Ration bar, which was made of chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, and oat flour. It didn't melt easily, and weighed just over 100 grams.

    4. Imposter alert: White chocolate is not technically chocolate!

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    Yes, white chocolate is made using cocoa butter, but it doesn't contain any cocoa solids, which makes it "not chocolate" by definition. Jury's still out, though!

    5. There's actually a chocolate-themed amusement park that you can visit.

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    The 121-acre Hersheypark in Pennsylvania, USA, not only has rides and custom chocolate bars, but also has a spa where you can get chocolate-based treatments. YUM!

    6. Chocolate milk officially originated in Jamaica.

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    Irish botanist, Sir Hans Sloane is credited with the discovery in the early 1700s, but Jamaican history tracks the invention of chocolate milk as far back as 1494!

    7. Smelling chocolate can reduce anxiety.

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    Just one sniff of chocolate can trigger relaxation in your mind and body. How cool!

    8. There's a fourth type of chocolate that was launched in 2017 — RUBY!

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    It actually tastes like berries, and is fruity, thanks to the unfermented cacao bean.

    9. The botanical name of the chocolate tree is Theobroma cacao, and "theobroma" means "food of the gods" in Latin.

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    Proof that chocolate is heavenly!

    10. Chocolate is actually healthy! It's proven to have more antioxidants than green tea.

    Aakriti Anand / BuzzFeed / Getty Images

    11. World Chocolate Day is celebrated on July 7, every year.

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    The day commemorates the introduction of chocolate into Europe, around the 1550s.

    12. People only started "eating chocolate" after 1847.

    The British Chocolate Cream bar created by Joseph Fry in 1866 is the oldest candy bar in the world, BUT the oldest WRAPPED INDIVIDUAL chocolate bar is Canada’s “Pal-O-Mine” created by James and Gilbert Ganong in 1873 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, where they are still made today. pic.twitter.com/uCEPVVFy6V

    — Andrew King (@twitandrewking) April 10, 2020
    Twitter: @twitandrewking
    Before then, chocolate was mostly consumed as a beverage. J.S. Fry & Sons were the first to create the solid form we now see it in.

    13. It takes 400 cacao beans to make just one pound, or 450 grams of chocolate.

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    And the average cacao tree produces beans only for about 25-40 years, of which only 30 percent can be used.

    14. 70 percent of the world's cacao beans come from just four West African countries — Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria.

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    Ivory Coast alone accounts for about 30 percent of that, with 2.1 million metric tonnes produced each year!

    15. Around 90 million chocolate Easter eggs are sold across the United States of America, every year.

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    That's a LOT of happy bunnies!

    16. The chocolate river in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory wasn't all chocolate, after all. Ew!

    The chocolate river in the '71 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory film was made with real chocolate. #Enchocolopedia pic.twitter.com/DYA4SpGCni

    — Waterbridge (@WaterbridgeJoy) December 21, 2016
    Twitter: @WaterbridgeJoy
    It was actually made with chocolate powder, anti-shampoo powder, and water, and (obviously) got pretty stinky and disgusting.

    17. The most expensive chocolate in the world costs a whopping $2,600 (or ₹2,16,307)!

    Good evening
    How much is the worlds most expensive chocolate bars?
    La Madeline au Truffe by Knipschild
    Named by Forbes as the most expensive chocolate in the world, a single tiny sweet will cost $260 – about $2,600 per pound.
    Maybe one day I’ll try it ,
    I’m a chocolate lover💕 pic.twitter.com/9zxE3Nr7wL

    — Janken Piero (@JankenPiero) September 6, 2023
    Twitter: @JankenPiero
    The La Madeline au Truffe was first created by Fritz Knipschildt, and these chocolates are made only to order and have to be finished within seven days.

    18. What's a person who compulsively eats a lot of chocolate and constantly craves it called? A chocoholic.

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    The term was coined way back in 1961.

    19. You can also have a fear or strong aversion to chocolate! It's called Xocolatophobia.

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    YEP!