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Archive for the ‘Chocolate’ Category

History of Mars Chocolate

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Chocolate is no doubt a favourite eatable of young and old people through out the world. Some people say that chocolate lovers are romantic and emotional by nature. Some people express their love by eating chocolates but some people show their love by making some new innovations in the chocolate industry. These people love to create different styles of chocolate and make combinations with many other ingredients that taste perfect with chocolate. It is in fact that pilot production of Mars as if we study the history of Mars chocolate.

They made various combinations of chocolates and afterwards they blend all flavours together and coat it with some milk chocolate and as a result they created the history of Mars chocolate.

The Mars chocolate bar that is manufactured by Mars Inc was for the first time manufactured in Slough, Berkshire of United Kingdom in 1932. it was launched as the sweet version of American chocolate Milky Way bar produced by the Mars Inc. in United States. The European version of Milky Way is different from American version because it was produced by a number of other companies but the Milky Way of America was a product of Mars in corporation. It was totally a different chocolate bar which was sold in America with the same name. The main ingredients were caramel, milk chocolate, almonds and plain nougat.

The UK version of Mars chocolate contains about fifty eight gram bar having two fifty nine calories which is equivalent to thirteen percent of daily calorie intake in an adult person. If we go back in the history of Mars chocolate, in 1932, an American son of Frank C. Mars, whose name was Forrest Mars rented one factory in slough with about staff of twelve people started to manufacture a chocolate in United Kingdom which they had never seen in the surroundings. In those days, most of the chocolates were solid black plain bars but Mars was a new in which contains various ingredients. It was designed on the chocolate which his father was selling in America with the name of Milky Way.

But in United Kingdom, it was sold with the name of Mars. These both chocolates were same but they had different names. Further some changes in ingredients were made by following the recipe of other chocolates like double decker, Milky Way, and 5-star. Afterwards, the packing was redesigned to make it look different from other candy bars that were available in America.

In 1966, a famous quotation you might have heard about that a Mars a day will help you to play, rest and work was said by William Dagnall who used his work to break the competition tie between Mars and other chocolates in favour of Mars. But soon it was replace by pleasure that is immeasurable which sounds like more youth attractions. After the hit of Mars, variations in sizes and flavours were introduced in the market to increase the profit on the basis of chocolate but the mini Mars really contributed in the Mars history to make it more demanding among other brands.

Healthy Dark Chocolate – Is There Such a Thing?

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

With a lot of talk about health and chocolate it is important to realize that there is a big difference between all types of chocolate and the health benefits they provide. One of the main health benefits that has been found in healthy dark chocolate is the flavonoids and they are more highly concentrated in dark chocolate because it has a higher cocoa percentage.

It is the cocoa which comes from a plant, which provides all of the health benefits. It is not only full of flavanoids but also minerals and other elements beneficial to health. Also white chocolate and milk chocolate contain more fat, refined sugar and fillers, which are not healthy.

Products which are coated with chocolate should also be eaten with caution because the amount of chocolate may be small and therefore the health benefits minimal. The product which is coated in the chocolate may be unhealthy and outweigh any health benefits provided by the chocolate. It is a balancing act, like any sort of healthy eating to make sure that you have the chocolate as part of a healthy balanced diet and have the dark chocolate if you want to ensure you are getting the maximum health benefits.

There is also a difference between different types of dark chocolate and this can effect the health benefits. Some have been processed a lot and have a lot of added sugar and so they are not so healthy as the ones which are less processed and have lower sugar levels. Some have a higher cocoa percentage than others as well. Check the labels of the chocolate to find out the ingredients and calculate which you think will be the best for you.

It is best to look out for the ones which have low sugar and high cocoa and as few other additives as possible. There are some bars which contain raw unprocessed cocoa and these are likely to be the best healthy dark chocolate.