Choco-thread!

(Newser) - Chocolate sales, reputed to be recession-proof, are taking a hit in this downturn as consumers’ taste for more expensive brands has soured, reports the Financial Times . Companies that jumped into premium candies have been hurt by the downturn, and analysts say the market has been “trading down” from premium to private label brands over the past six months. More »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »