Here is some interesting dark chocolate trivia. Did you know that dark chocolate is the original? Do you know how an insect called a "midge" is critical to the cacao plant? Who are the biggest chocolate eaters in the world? The answers are here!
Cocoa beans were used by native Central American cultures as a form of money. Who says money doesn't grow on trees?
For most of its history chocolate was consumed as a drink. And for most of that time there was no milk in the drink. It was dark chocolate!
A cacao plant grows 20 to 25 feet in height. Each pod produces 25 to 40 beans. But it takes about 400 beans to make one pound of chocolate.
The flowers of the cacao plant are pollinated by small winged insects, called midges, that live in the rotting leaves on the forest floor.
The cacao tree is native to South and Central America, but Africa now produces almost twice the cocoa as South America.
Read more about chocolate making here.
The Swiss eat more chocolate per person than any other country in the world, but Americans eat approximately half of the 600,000 tons of chocolate produced in the world each year.
In 2008, 40% of the world's almonds went into chocolate products.
American and Russion space flights have always included chocolate.
Chocolate is actually low in caffeine. You would have to eat over a dozen chocolate bars to get the caffeine in one cup of coffee.
Chocolate does not cause or contribute to acne.
Click here to read more about dark chocolate health benefits.
