Choco-thread!

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June 2008
- Quest on for Chocolate Genome
  
  Washington Post | Jun 26, 08 6:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
May 2008
- Ice Cream Guru Robbins Dead
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 6, 08 11:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Irvine Robbins, the co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, has died at 90, the LA Times reports. Robbins grew up scooping ice cream at his family’s Tacoma, Wash., shop and opened his own store in California in 1945. As his chain expanded, he loved inventing and naming new flavors, including cherry chocolate chip “ChaChaCha” and Jamoca Almond Fudge. More »
April 2008
- Chocoholics: Science Wants You
  
  Reuters | Apr 29, 08 7:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- Dark Chocolate Fends Off Pregnancy Problems
  
  AFP | Apr 29, 08 3:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- Silicon Valley Startup Craves Chocolate
  
  Economist | Apr 23, 08 11:18 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
February 2008
- EU Probes Chocolate Price Fixing
  
  Associated Press | Feb 20, 08 6:22 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
January 2008
- Top 10 Aphrodisiacs—for Real?
  
  LiveScience | Jan 19, 08 8:20 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Most aphrodisiacs are pure bunk, but it's fun to read about tonics that have beguiled lovers for centuries—and look at a few that may actually work. LiveScience lists its top 10: Respect. Dr. Ruth talks about the feeling that sparks all meaningful relationships, and makes for good sex too. Exercise. A recent study links penile dysfunction to inactivity, while physical fitness boosts mind and body both. Psychoanalysis. Therapists can boost that libido by helping alleviate depression and other disorders. More »
December 2007
- Campbell's Sells Godiva
  
  New York Times | Dec 21, 07 11:59 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- Chocolate Makers Face Sticky Probe
  
  Wall Street Journal | Dec 20, 07 5:25 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
November 2007
- $25K Sundae Comes With Mice, Roaches
  
  CBS | Nov 15, 07 8:10 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - An upscale dessert shop on New York's Upper East Side that serves $25,000 ice cream sundaes has been shut down for egregious health-code violations, including a dysfunctional sewage system, mounds of mouse droppings, and a thriving cockroach population, CBS reports. The shop, Serendipity 3, introduced the extravagant sundae, which comes with a golden spoon, just last week. More »
- Before It Was Chocolate, It Was Beer
  
  Reuters | Nov 13, 07 8:24 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
October 2007
- Study: Dark Chocolate Aids Chronic Fatigue
  
  BBC | Oct 1, 07 3:58 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
September 2007
- Are We Finally Ready for 'Smellovision'?
  
  Associated Press | Sep 11, 07 12:19 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An olfactory entrepreneur is trying to revive "Smellovision"—the Edsel-era technology that pipes appropriate scents to movie audiences. Megan Dickerson has been showing "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" in an open-air theater outside the Boston Children's Museum, complete with the odors of blueberries and banana taffy. "There's been a crazy response to the movement," she says. More »
August 2007
- 10 Sweet Spots to Visit
  
  Discovery Channel | Aug 26, 07 5:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Travel & Leisure takes you on a tour of a fun-food factories, where delights range from twisting your own pretzel to sampling donuts hot off the line. Some factory tours can even be experienced from home. Twinkie: Twinkies.com Tootsie Pop: Tootsie.com Ben and Jerry's: Waterbury, Vt. More »
- Dark Chocolate Gets Sweeter Every Day
  
  Los Angeles Times | Aug 22, 07 1:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- Campbell's to Shed Chocolatier
  
  Bloomberg | Aug 9, 07 12:31 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
July 2007
- $600 Coffee 'Processed' by Civets
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jul 13, 07 5:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- 100 Years of Kisses
  
  Cedar City Review | Jul 7, 07 8:59 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Today the Hershey's Kiss will turn 100 and The Hershey Company is pulling out all the stops. What do you get the candy that has everything? A U.S. postage stamp? A 15,026 pound bigger-than-life-size version of itself? A party? Yes. More »
May 2007
- Globalization Has a Hard Chocolate Shell
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 31, 07 2:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a "global supply-chain transformation," Hershey will slash its domestic workforce and build a plant in Mexico. The chocolate giant projects savings of tens of millions of dollars a year, but the numbers don't mean much in Oakdale, Calif., where 575 employees will be our of their jobs by year's end. The LA Times pays a visit. More »
April 2007
- Obama as Jesus Stirs Some Ire
  
  Chicago Tribune | Apr 3, 07 9:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Another sculpture of Jesus is stirring protest this Holy Week—this time a work portraying Barack Obama as the savior. The Art Institute of Chicago has gotten a flood of angry calls over the piece in an exhibition of student work, close on the heels of the chocolate Christ brouhaha in Manhattan. More »