Chocolate’s dark little secret

Chocolate products, including the bunnies and eggs of the season, may get knocked for their calories, fat and sugar, but chocolate’s source — cacao — contains important vitamins and minerals and has antioxidant properties.

“Chocolate is a food,” says registered dietitian Robyn Flipse, a nutrition consultant for food and pharmaceutical companies, including Masterfoods USA in Hackettstown, N.J., a part of Mars Inc.

“There is no good reason to eliminate or remove it from our diet. We deserve to get enjoyment from it.”

Ms. Flipse and other nutritionists and dietitians debate chocolate’s healthfulness and whether it can be considered an addictive substance.

Chocolate is made from different types of cacao beans that are fermented, dried and roasted. The inner nib, or kernel, of the bean is ground, releasing the bean’s natural fat, called cocoa butter. The remaining cocoa solids are processed to make unsweetened cocoa powder.

“If you were just eating cocoa powder, you could eat a lot of it. The sugars are the problem,” says Sara Ducey, associate professor of nutrition at Montgomery College in Rockville.

Milk chocolate contains 12 percent milk solids and at least 10 percent chocolate mass or chocolate liquor, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sweet chocolate contains at least 15 percent chocolate liquor, and bittersweet or semisweet chocolate at least 35 percent, as defined by the department. White chocolate does not contain any cocoa liquor or cocoa powder and consists of at least 20 percent cocoa butter, the USDA says.

Chocolate high in cocoa solids (cocoa powder, cocoa butter and cocoa liquor) contains small amounts of vitamins A, B1, C, D and E and trace amounts of minerals, including iron, calcium and potassium. Chocolate is a source of magnesium and contains some fiber and protein.

Mrs. Ducey recommends top-quality dark chocolate.

“We are looking for the deep, dark ones that are very, very rich. Most people, when they have top-end of chocolate, [find that] less of it is needed to be satisfying,” she says.

Dark chocolate, which is processed less, contains more nutrients and flavonoids than milk and white chocolate, Mrs. Ducey says.

Flavonoids are antioxidants that help protect cells from oxidative damage, boost immune function, lower blood pressure and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease, metro-area nutritionists and dietitians say.

Poor quality chocolate has less cocoa and typically contains more sugars and partially hydrogenated or saturated fat, Mrs. Ducey says.

“Unfortunately, a lot of fat in chocolate is saturated fat,” says Susan Baum, nutrition manager for Inova Health Source in Fairfax.

Saturated fat, which is added to chocolate as a solidifying agent and for flavor, can raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease, Mrs. Baum says.

Story Continues →