Chocolate-covered fun facts

In honour of all thing chocolate, dive into our top ten chocolate-covered fun facts.

The chocolate journey started around 4,000 years ago in the Americas. Ancient tribes like the Aztecs and Mayans revered cacao (or cocoa) beans, eating them before going into battle because they were thought to give strength. The Aztecs also believed that cacao actually came from paradise itself and whoever ate the beans would be blessed with wisdom and energy.

Now, we can't guarantee wisdom but we can supply some fun chocolaty facts...

1. More than twice the number of women than men eat chocolate and experience chocolate cravings. Chocolate craving is an unusual craving, unlike others it cannot be satisfied by any other sweet food.
2. On average, each person in Britain eats roughly 9 kg of chocolate per year (equal to about 3 small bars a week).
3. You would have to eat more than a dozen chocolate bars to get the same amount of caffeine from a cup of coffee. There are about 5 to 10 mgs of caffeine in one ounce of bitter chocolate, 5 mgs in milk chocolate, and 10 mgs in a six-ounce cup of cocoa.
4. Chocolate is actually a valuable energy source. A single chocolate chip can provide enough energy for an adult to walk 150 ft.
5. One ounce of baking chocolate or cocoa contains 10% of the daily recommended intake of iron. Milk chocolate is the most preferred type of chocolate, however dark chocolate is especially popular among men.
6. For his famous shower scene in Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate syrup instead of fake blood. It photographed better in black and white when going down the drain.
7. It takes about 400 cocoa beans to make a pound of chocolate.
8. The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human body temperature which is why chocolate literally "melts in your mouth."
9. Some consider white chocolate not to even be chocolate, because of the lack of cocoa solids.
10. Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine, which increases heartbeat, yet it also dilates blood vessels, causing a reduced blood pressure.

Delve into our chocolate recipe collection for more inspiration.