Researchers electric shocks lowered the fat content in chocolate and made them healthier

New manufacturing process leads to healthier chocolate
Many people, big or small, love the taste of chocolate. Unfortunately, regular consumption is not really healthy. Chocolate has a high fat content and can therefore support obesity and obesity. Researchers have now found that electric shock can reduce the fat content of chocolate by as much as twenty percent.

Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia found that electric shocks on chocolate particles increase the flow of chocolate in production without the need for additional cocoa butter. Through this process, the fat content of chocolate can be reduced by up to twenty percent. The experts published the results of their study in the journal "PNAS".

Chocolate of any kind tastes good, but also has the disadvantage that it contains a lot of fat. Scientists have now discovered a new process that can produce low-fat chocolate. (Image: Africa Studio / fotolia.com)

Cocoa butter keeps the chocolate fluid in production and increases the fat content
A group of physicists has now found a way to make chocolate healthier. It has been possible to reduce the fat content of chocolate with the help of electric shock, says Rongjia Tao of Temple University. Before the chocolate is individually packaged later, it begins to flow as a liquid through the pipes of the factory. Cocoa butter helps to keep the chocolate flowing smoothly, say the experts. Up to 40 percent of the volume of a typical chocolate bar is made from cocoa butter. Cocoa butter has the disadvantage that it leads to a high fat content in chocolate, explain the researchers.

Cocoa butter contains a lot of fat and oil
Normally, fat and oil in the cocoa butter help keep the chocolate in the tubes fluid during production. Now researchers have been able to find another way to keep the chocolate liquid, thus eliminating the need to add additional cocoa butter. Electric shocks can reduce the fat in chocolate by ten to twenty percent, the scientists explain.

Loaded sieve gives off electric shocks to the chocolate
The researchers inserted an electric sieve into the liquid chocolate. This gave electric shocks to the cocoa particles that passed through the sieve, say the experts. The process flattens the solids of the cocoa and causes them to behave like small bar magnets. These then take on a chain-like formation, which gives the chocolate more space to flow. Everything happens without having to add more cocoa butter, the researchers say.

Chocolate tastes good and makes you smarter
The new manufacturing process can lead to a new kind of chocolate that is healthier and still tastes good. Chocolate manufacturers have already tried to reduce the fat in chocolate. However, they managed only to reduce the fat content to about 36 percent. The new electric shock method can reduce the fat content to about 28 percent. This would allow people to enjoy the benefits of chocolate without risking weight problems. For example, just recently, a study found that we can get smarter, thanks to chocolate.

Tastes chocolate with less cocoa butter worse?
Although the process of reducing fat content may help to make healthier chocolate in the future, some food experts are skeptical as to whether even tasty chocolate can be made through this process. Unfortunately, the study does not provide any data that supports improved taste. For some people, cocoa butter makes chocolate so delicious. The melting properties of cocoa butter make chocolate so unique that less cocoa butter would make the chocolate more powdery and brittle. Even the taste could suffer, the critics suspect. (As)