Chocolate - A very special ingredient not many people know about.

For all you little chocoholics out there - and I like my chocolate too - there is something you should know about it. However, I very much doubt if this will put you off your favorite yummy. As you read the article, it is obvious that most foods have this very special ingredient as well and the FDA knows all about it too. Mmmm Enjoy.

Chocolate Allergies Linked to Cockroach Parts

Most people who are allergic to chocolate aren't having a reaction to cocoa or any of chocolate's other official ingredients. No, the flare ups are most likely triggered by the ground-up cockroach parts that contaminate every batch.

According to ABC News, the average chocolate bar contains eight insect parts. Anything less than 60 insect pieces per 100 grams of chocolate (two chocolate bars' worth) is deemed safe for consumption by the Food and Drug Administration.

Allergists say most foods contain natural contaminants. Aside from chocolate, cockroach parts also make their way into peanut butter, macaroni, fruit, cheese, popcorn and wheat. The roach bits can affect people with asthma, as well causing migraines, cramps, itching or hives in people who are allergic to them.

Mmmmmmm...chocolate covered cockroaches, ants, and grasshoppers! It is a delicacy !

a reply to: qmantoo

Couldn't give a crap, I love chocolate no matter what is said and will continue to do so

I have a sort of asthma, I take a molybdenum supplement for that. I don't have much of an asthma reaction to chocolate but sure feel terrible if I overeat it. I prefer my roach parts in Reese's peanut butter cups.

I don't mind eating bugs, I would rather eat lettuce that the bugs eat than lettuce that the bugs won't touch. I get reactions from too much sugar, two hours later, I wind up with very low blood sugar levels. But bugs...Yum. Shrimp are sea bugs. I like shrimp.

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum
a reply to: qmantoo

Couldn't give a crap, I love chocolate no matter what is said and will continue to do so

Just as long as you know, that's fine.

It is not just chocolate though - read the article. :-)

As far as I'm aware I have no bug allergies...yeah, shrimp, crabs, crawfish, and lobster are just water bugs. I enjoy eating them all...but for whatever reason, cockroaches creep me the hell out. I nearly fell from a rooftop sundeck when one flew down and landed on me. I screamed like a little bitch.

a reply to: qmantoo

Another thing, at least for me, that doesn't feel too good is Vanillin, a 'phenolic aldehyde' - 4-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde.

I know its what makes me feel bad because I don't feel bad when I eat natural chocolate with real vanilla.

As for the roaches.. more protein. I saw my cat eat one the other day, thought what the heck is he doing.. but oh right, its just food.

During the potato famine in Ireland some people were trying to survive by eating grass, but they really should have been eating the insects.

a reply to: qmantoo

This is 100 percent correct and You know one of the worst culprits is hot cocao, The fact is that most chocolate is grown in third world country's, storage and sanitation would leave you a lot to think about even at the large conglomerate owned farm's as after all it is all about profit, Mass production is the real culprit though as mass production requires higher output and resultant higher contamination and lower quality, as well as of course more child slaves to work the farm's for there bullying slave masters.

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum
a reply to: qmantoo

Couldn't give a crap, I love chocolate no matter what is said and will continue to do so

I stand firmly with this one!
Cockroaches or not, I'm eating the ^%$# outta some chocolate.
That said, plz send any and all unwanted chocolate to me.
PO BOX...

Nice :/
I was eating a Milky Way less than 30 minutes ago.
Considering that most the food we consume comes from the same type of food companies, I can only imagine what else we're eating in stuff

a reply to: qmantoo

I was actually eating the Brookside Chocolate covered Pomegranate (also in acai and other wonderful flavors) - something that is really really delicious. As I was looking at the package, I noticed it said "and other fruit flavors". I rolled my eyes and thought "great - what else did they put in this?" So I flipped the package, and looked at the ingredients. All of the usual were there, and actually pretty decent and pure ingredients. And then I saw one I didn't recognize, but sounded harmless enough. Resinous Glaze. Hmmm..... what does that entail?

What is RESINOUS GLAZE?

Excrement secretion of the Kerria Lacca insect. Collected off of sticks where the insects live, bark and dead insect matter is filtered out and it is turned into a glaze.

Where does RESINOUS GLAZE come from?

Mostly from India, and mainly form the Tachardia Lacca beetle, as well as from the many other of the tiny almost microscopic insects of the Lacca family (collectivly called Kerria), these tiny beetles suck sap from the trees and excrete the glaze on the branches. The branches are referred to as 'sticklac' by the locals who collect them to be processed. Some sources site that the excretion of the substance is similar to bees producing honey.

How is RESINOUS GLAZE made?

Sticklac branches are collected by locals where they are sent to a plant to remove and purify the sticky substance excreted by the Kerria Lacca beetle. The alcohol is added to the sticky substance, which it is then filtered. The substance is then used to coat candies and pills as a glaze that dries or is cooked on.
Sticklac branches primarily come from the following trees; India: Dhak, Ber, & Kusum, Thailand: Rain & Pigeon Pea trees, China: Piegeon Pea & Hibiscus, and Mexico: Barbados nut tree.

You're welcome.

Peanut butter.

Ever look really good at it? Yep.. you can find bug parts in all of them.

It's sad they allow so much of this stuff in our foods. I can understand perhaps YEARS ago when technology wasn't so good but today there is no reason for it. I know we get imports but at least the food grown and sold here in the US or other major countries should be able to lessen the contamination.

a reply to: JohnPhoenix

That is why I grind my own peanut butter. And many grocery stores have the ability to do it. Well THAT isn't why I grind my own peanut butter (And Almond Butter) - I do it because it's a lot healthier, and you know exactly what's in it. Peanuts. (or almonds) - AND it doesn't cost any more, it's actually cheaper, and personally I think it tastes better too. And I know there aren't any bugs in it.

a reply to: qmantoo

That is actually good news: if you want less trace of insects, producers would have to use more pesticides. I rather eat some insects with my chocolate, than man made chemicals.........insects are pure protein after all!

To avoid eating insects you would have to avoid eating.....completely.

We are surrounded by bugs, we always have been, they are part of nature just like us.

a reply to: Agartha

In the old day's the confectioners would buy the cocao beans whole and after rinsing would then use them to produce there chocolate but today the majority of cocao which is of course a south american native is actually grown in africa with different pests and contaminant's, also to protect there harvest most cocao growers probably use pesticides illicitely anyway and most of this insect contamination probably occures at the bean storage stage along with rodant poop and other unpleasent contaminant's, chocolate is in itself not bad for you but I personally feel a little queasy knowing where it comes from and the conditions in which it is produced.
Brazilian cocao is maybe just as contaminated but at least it is from it's native eco system and it was the cocao of choice for those old confectioners.

Gotta get that protein in somewhere.

a reply to: qmantoo

As in Shellac ...

We all used it in woodwork at school as a stain /varnish.

en.wikipedia.org...

Nom nom ...

Milk Chocolate is actually the secret ingredient in my chili. (don't tell anyone)

break up and melt 1/3 - 1/2 a Hershey Bar into around 2 gallons of chili.

It gives it a special flavor, not sweet and not chocolaty (sp?) but a nice smooth flavor. Nobody has been able to figure it out yet what I use but they all notice something different and like it.