Which chocolate is healthy? Food science newsletter #44! 🍎🧄🐶💕

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FOOD SCIENCE factoids in orange text:

(1) Which chocolate is healthy?

Who doesn’t love chocolate? We all do! (Well, ChatGPT says only 85-90% of people really, really like chocolate. Who are these 10-15% of people? Not sure, but we’ll let them be, enjoying their other dessert options.)

You might be interested in the health benefits of chocolate. Maybe you buy “dark chocolate” thinking it’s healthier. You might check the label and look for sugar content in “dark chocolate,” which is a good thing to check for. (there is no legal limit on sugar content in any chocolate, although there is a minimum cocoa content, so a sugar cube with a pixie-dust sprinkling of cocoa can’t be sold as “chocolate.” For legal definitions of chocolate: click here.

When making a buying decision on chocolate or cocoa, and if you’re specifically interested in the healthiest cocoa or chocolate, you want to NOT BUY “alkalized” cocoa (aka “Dutch process.”) However, if you strictly adhered to not-buying any chocolate containing alkalized cocoa, it might mean you’re missing out on some good tasting, moderately healthy chocolates, especially if there’s a low sugar content.

Here is an example of cocoa you would find in oreos (“black cocoa”: fully alkalized, likely no flavonoid antioxidants at all.) I like how this company calls their cocoa that's fully alkalized, "ebony royale." I think Samuel L Jackson deserves a roy-al-tee with cheese.

 “Alkalized” cocoa, as the name implies, has been mixed with a solution of alkali (the opposite in pH of an acid) and then dried to remove the water-solvent. There are various alkali that can be used which have different color and flavor affects. Most cocoa processors use Potassium Carbonate, which is a mild alkali. (eg: Potassium or Sodium Hydroxide are rarely used, the latter is an exceptionally strong base, while alkalis Potassium and Sodium Carbonate are less strong, but all alkali negatively affect the antioxidant benefits naturally found in cocoa.)

Below is a chart and study I found that shows the loss in antioxidant compounds called “flavonoids” or "flavonols."

As you can see, the flavonoid content depends on how alkalized the cocoa is.

According to this paper, natural cocoa has on average: 16.2mg/g flavonoids. Alkalized cocoa can have 8.95mg/g, 2mg/g or none! Whereas the highest flavonoid concentration in natural cocoa was found to contain 40mg/g!  

As you see from the chart, lightly alkalized cocoa can retain some nutritional benefits while improving flavor characteristics, so not all alkalized can be condemned as totally bad. However, there is no label distinction between highly alkalized and lightly alkalized, so seeing “alkalized” on a label does not necessary mean it’s bad. Ironically, “dark chocolate” sounds healthy and we have been told it’s healthy, but legally, dark chocolate can have fully alkalized cocoa, possibly being totally devoid of flavonoid antioxidants!

Many dark chocolate brands tout cocoa content, such as the major chocolate maker: Lindt. They sell an array of dark chocolates, starting at 70%, ranging up to 100%.

They may be adding a lightly alkalized cocoa, but interestingly, as you go up in cocoa content with their products, they seem to be adding alkalized cocoa powder to a base of chocolate. (Note: “chocolate” as an ingredient means the finely milled and melted cocoa powder that has not been defatted: the cocoa-butter (cocoa fat) remains altogether. See: chocolate liquor Wikipedia, not to be confused with candy chocolate containing some alcohol. It's called "chocolate liquor' because when melted and hot, the cocoa has a liquer like-smell, perhaps because trace alcohols from prior cocoa fermentation are being vaporized?)

As an example of the mystery and confusion of selecting a healthy chocolate, here’s a summary of Lindt’s chocolates: just because the label says there’s more cocoa, it’s not clear if it’s really that much healthier, since that cocoa added is alkalized (except for their 85% Cocoa product)

Because the public has been told “dark chocolate is healthier”, really, there should be a law written that dark chocolate cannot contain alkalized cocoa. Although, that would then make moderately healthy chocolate bars unable to be sold as “dark chocolate.” The alternative, would be to have all chocolates declare their flavonoid content, but that would be a very expensive laboratory testing process and make all chocolate many times more expensive.

The easy answer: there is none! Although it appears the 85% cocoa chocolate from Lindt is their healthiest option. Hopefully, you like the taste!

Below is a table showing how the alkalization/dutch process reduces the antioxidant concentration of the flavonoids in cocoa. You can ignore the colors: each color represents a flavonoid sub-category molecule-type: the "N"... is a type of flavonoid: such as catechins (also found in tea.)  The total of each column represents total antioxidant concentration.

 Come to the farmers market for free samples!