Swiss scientists make a chocolate discovery

Food scientists at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich say they have developed a method to use more of the cocoa bean to make chocolate, which could help growers, the environment and ultimately consumers .

Today’s chocolate is made using only the beans from the cocoa fruit. The rest is thrown away. However, scientists say they have found a way to incorporate the whole fruit and make chocolate without adding sugar.

Even without this additive, however, the new style of chocolate is described as rich, dark and sweet by a reporter who tried a sample.

The new chocolate takes the parts of the cocoa bean that are normally thrown away and juices them. This juice, which is said to have fruity qualities, is 14% sugar. This is distilled to become a concentrated syrup, which is combined with the pulp and dried husk to become a sweet cocoa gel. When this is mixed with cocoa beans to make chocolate, no additional sugar is needed.

Not only does the method eliminate waste, it could leave cocoa farmers demanding higher prices. What it would not do, however, is eliminate the problems of child labor and deforestation that have been linked to the chocolate industry. Starting next year, any chocolate imported into the European Union must come with a guarantee that no deforestation took place in growing the cocoa used to produce it.

Several Swiss chocolate makers, including Lindt, have started using the new method, but none, so far, have gone so far as to eliminate sugar from their recipe. And that could mean it will take some time for this new method to benefit your wallet.

Sugar is subsidized in Switzerland; Cocoa pulp and juice are not, so while it’s more environmentally responsible to use the rest of the fruit, it’s cheaper to stick with the older methods for now. But as consumers become more concerned with the carbon footprint of the companies they buy from, that could change in the coming years.