ANALYSIS
Food chain's labels don't provide enough information about allergens
Chicago Tribune Nov 23, 08 10:45 AM CST
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Eat, drink, and be wary, chocolate lovers: Whole Foods may not be telling you the whole story about its premium chocolate bars, reports the Chicago Tribune. In an investigation into product labels that promised “good manufacturing practices.” the Trib found that the supermarket chain’s chocolate bars contained traces of allergens—the latest example of how food chains, with little accountability and unchecked food labels, are misleading consumers.
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Reuters Aug 15, 08 8:25 PM CDT
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Chocolate maker Hershey said today it is raising prices by about 10% to offset the new costs of ingredients, Reuters reports. Commodities like cocoa and peanuts are up between 20% and 45%, it said, yet one analyst called the price hike a "real surprise." The candy giant also predicted lower than expected profit for 2008; stocks were down 4% on the news.
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Mars aims to unlock genetic code to develop hardier cacao trees
Washington Post Jun 26, 08 6:44 AM CDT
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Candy giant Mars is investing $10 million in a 5-year research project to unlock the secrets of chocolate's genetic code—the cocoa genome—as the first stage in developing cacao trees that can produce more, survive droughts, and combat disease. Mars intends to make the results public to stop key genes from being privately patented, reports the Washington Post. The cocoa harvest has become volatile and unreliable in recent years.
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Scientists hope chemical compound holds key to curbing heart disease
Reuters Apr 29, 08 7:37 PM CDT
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A bar of chocolate a day may keep heart disease away, Reuters reports—or so goes the theory British scientists want to test by recruiting 150 postmenopausal women willing to do their part for science. Eating one bar each day for a year will help study whether a key chemical compound can curb heart disease risk for menopausal women with type 2 diabetes.
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Chemical helps prevent preeclampsia, study finds
AFP Apr 29, 08 3:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Pregnant women who indulge in a daily treat of dark chocolate are cutting the risk of a serious complication, according to new research. Dark chocolate, rich in the chemical theobromine, helped prevent preeclampsia, a serious condition related to high blood pressure that affects up to 8% of pregnancies, the study found.
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Tcho founders predict a coffee-like revolution for the sweet stuff
Economist Apr 23, 08 11:18 AM CDT
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San Francisco startup Tcho has all the sweet Silicon Valley trimmings, the Economist reports; high-profile tech alums, online beta testing and stock options for all. But its product is even sweeter: top-quality chocolate. The company has developed a means to grade cocoa beans' complex nuances on a "flavor wheel," taking a cutting-edge approach to a timeless artisanal craft.
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Hershey, Mars, others suspected of conspiracy
Associated Press Feb 20, 08 6:22 AM CST
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The European Commission suspects candy giant Hershey of conspiring with other chocolate and candy manufacturers in an industry-wide price-fixing scheme, AP reports. Both Hershey and rival Mars recently received requests for information from the commission after some 50 civil lawsuits in the US have alleged price fixing. The two companies say they are cooperating.
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Brits urge faithful to fast to cut emissions, fight global warming
BBC Feb 5, 08 12:05 PM CST
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For many Christians, Lent is a time to forgo chocolate or ice cream, but two senior British bishops have a better idea: “fasting” away your carbon footprint. “The poor are already suffering the effects of climate change,” says Liverpool’s bishop. “To carry on regardless of their plight is to fly in the face of Christian teaching.”
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Soup maker gets $850M, will focus on core businesses
New York Times Dec 21, 07 11:59 AM CST
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To ensure that its bottom line stays “M'm! M'm! Good,” the Campbell Soup Company sold its upscale Godiva chocolate brand yesterday for $850 million. Yildiz Holding of Turkey beat out Starbucks and Hershey’s to nab the Belgian chocolatier, which racks up $500 million in annual sales, the New York Times reports. The sale will help Campbell’s recover from a 7.2% drop in its first-quarter net.
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US and Canada
investigate possible price-fixing
Wall Street Journal Dec 20, 07 5:25 PM CST
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Following a similar investigation in Canada last month, the Justice Department has launched a probe into possible price-fixing in the US chocolate industry. The suspects form a rich, creamy lineup: M&M maker Mars acknowledged it has been contacted by the DOJ, the Wall Street Journal reports. Nestle, too, says it is aware of the investigation but has not yet been contacted. Other makers declined comment.
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Sweet treat traced to celebratory Honduran brew 3,100 years ago
Reuters Nov 13, 07 8:24 AM CST
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Chocolate had its origins at least 3,100 years ago in Central America not as a sweet treat but as a celebratory beer-like beverage, reported scientists yesterday after analyzing residues from ancient pottery vessels. The earliest beverages made from cacao—the source of chocolate—likely were produced by fermenting the sweet pulp surrounding the seeds, according to Reuters.
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Treat may work by boosting brain's serotonin levels
BBC Oct 1, 07 3:58 AM CDT
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A daily dose of dark chocolate noticeably improves symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, researchers have discovered. Scientists speculate that the chocolate may boost brain serotonin levels in sufferers, who reported significantly less fatigue when they ate 45 grams a day of chocolate high in cocoa content.
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Milk chocolate's healthier sibling grows more popular than ever
Los Angeles Times Aug 22, 07 1:10 PM CDT
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Overall chocolate sales are down, but Americans are increasingly indulging their sweet tooth with dark chocolate. The bitter, coffee-flavored treat is on the rise: Last year, dark chocolate sales surged 15% while sales of more popular milk chocolate dipped 5.5%. And boosted by claims of health benefits, dark chocolate accounted for 63% of all new chocolate products in 2006.
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Soup shop hopes to sell distracting Godiva
Bloomberg Aug 9, 07 12:31 PM CDT
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Campbell's may be trimming some fat from its budget: Bloomberg reports the food company is looking to sell the luxe Godiva brand, which is weighing down on the more wholesome corners of its pyramid. Campbell's is intent on slurping up new markets in Russia and China, and the sweets trade—7% of the iconic soupmaker's business—may be a distraction.
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Java-lovers' treat plucked from droppings of animals who gorge on beans
Los Angeles Times Jul 13, 07 5:49 AM CDT
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Move over, Starbucks. Hyper coffee connoisseurs are coughing up $600 for a pound of the world's priciest coffee, a blend plucked from the droppings of a civet, a small Indonesian mammal that forages for fresh coffee beans. Fans describe the taste of kopi luwak as earthy, with a note of rich, dark chocolate, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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Even most tasty kinds of dark chocolate will lower blood pressure, study shows
San Francisco Chronicle Jul 4, 07 5:06 AM CDT
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More sweet news for chocoholics: Small doses of dark chocolate—even candy-aisle favorites like Dove or Hershey's—may reduce blood pressure by 2-3 points, new research shows. The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association , suggests commercial chocolate can provide some of the same benefits as the high-flavanol lab concoctions tested in earlier studies.
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