The first chocolate house was opened in London in 1657.
Scharffen Berger is the only American chocolate company founded in the last 50 years.
Consumers spend more than $7 billion a year on chocolate.
Per capita, the Swiss consume the most chocolate.
Most cacao beans are grown within 15 to 20 degrees from the equator.
Theobroma cacao, the scientific name for the cacao tree, comes from the Greek words meaning "food of the gods."
"Chocolate liquor" is the sticky paste that results from the process of fermenting, roasting, and grinding cacao beans. It is mixed with sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla to form chocolate.
Cacao beans were once used as currency in Mayan and Aztec cultures.
The original name for chocolate was "xocalatl" which means bitter water.
Phenylethylamine, a chemical substance contained in chocolate, produces a sense of euphoria.
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