Is chocolate off-limits for children?

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This post was last edited by cflt111 on 2015-10-9 21:57. Questions will be answered. Yun Wuxin, a food scientist and science popularization expert, is here to talk face to face with you about some topics related to children’s food that are of mutual interest to us. In fact, few studies directly address what happens when babies consume chocolate; after all, chocolate is just a type of snack, and there are many different varieties of it, making it difficult to generalize. To answer this mother’s question better, let’s start with the basic knowledge of chocolate. Chocolate is essentially a type of confectionery, and its main ingredients are cocoa butter and cocoa powder. After being fermented, roasted, and peeled, cacao beans are ground and pressed to produce “cocoa paste,” also known as “cocoa liquor.” Cocoa paste can be separated into cocoa butter and cocoa powder, which can then be further processed into other foods. Cocoa butter is actually a type of vegetable oil. Common vegetable oils, such as soybean oil, canola oil, peanut oil, and corn oil, are all unsaturated fats. However, cocoa butter is different – it contains a high amount of saturated fats, typically around 60%. The melting point of oil is primarily determined by the content of waxes and fats. Vegetable oils generally have a low melting point and remain in a liquid state at room temperature, while animal oils have a high melting point and are solid at room temperature. Cocoa butter, due to its high content of saturated fats, has properties similar to those of a solid; however, it melts in the mouth. It is what is known as a fat that melts only in the mouth, not in other animal fats, with a melting point between 34°C and 38°C. This allows it to be held in the hand at room temperature. Cocoa powder is the residue of cocoa beans after the cocoa butter has been extracted; it’s similar to the bean cake that remains after oil has been extracted from soybeans. Many unique components found in cocoa beans, such as the minerals iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc, as well as various polyphenol compounds, remain mainly in cocoa powder. Cocoa powder contains about 60% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and over 10% fats. Even when it comes to eating \"chocolate\", there are significant differences. Typical chocolate requires the addition of cocoa butter to the cocoa paste, which results in more cocoa butter in the chocolate than in the cocoa paste itself. Furthermore, some chocolate varieties also contain ingredients such as milk or milk powder, as well as sugar. Different combinations of ingredients result in a variety of chocolates. As an oil, cocoa butter is the source that gives chocolate its unique texture; it also contains certain aromatic substances. The polyphenolic compounds in cocoa powder, along with other trace elements, play a significant role in shaping the flavor of chocolate. Cocoa powder contains many polyphenolic compounds, which give typical chocolate its black color. That’s why dark chocolate can be considered the \"true\" chocolate, possessing the strongest \"chocolate flavor.\" However, polyphenol compounds give it a noticeable astringent taste, which means that true chocolate isn’t necessarily the one with the best flavor. Milk chocolate is another category. It is made using milk powder or condensed milk as a substitute for cocoa butter. In the United States, regulations require that milk chocolate contain 10% cocoa liquor, while the EU requires only 25% cocoa powder. Later, EU regulations were amended to allow a level of 20% in the UK and Ireland; however, in other parts of the EU, such chocolate can only be called “home-made milk chocolate”. In other words, the cocoa butter content in milk chocolate is much lower than that in dark chocolate. Moreover, among products labeled as \"milk chocolate,\" those from the United States contain significantly less cocoa powder than those from the European Union. White chocolate contains no cocoa powder at all, which is why it appears white. Its main ingredients are sugar, milk, and cocoa butter. The United States, the European Union, and Japan all require that the cocoa butter content in white chocolate be no less than 20%. There are actually even more types of chocolate than this; different combinations of ingredients such as cocoa powder, cocoa butter, milk, and sugar result in a wide variety of chocolates. Moreover, the legal names and requirements for different products also vary from one place to another. It is important to note “cocoa butter substitute chocolate”. Cocoa butter is relatively expensive, so there is a market for cheap alternatives, and that’s where palm oil comes in handy. Like cocoa butter, it contains a high amount of saturated fats; through processes such as hydrogenation and separation, it is possible to obtain from palm oil an oil with physical properties very similar to those of cocoa butter – this is what is known as \"cocoa butter substitute\". Lower-grade cocoa butter can also be made from ordinary hydrogenated vegetable oils. In terms of taste, vegetable cocoa butter can almost pass off as real cocoa butter, except that it lacks the inherent flavor of cocoa butter. And partially hydrogenated vegetable oils contain some trans fats, which makes them even worse. According to Chinese standards, if the content of cocoa butter substitutes exceeds 5%, it cannot be called “chocolate”; instead, it must be referred to as “cocoa butter substitute chocolate”. Chocolate is indeed not suitable for children. There are many studies on the effects of cocoa or chocolate on health, but few high-quality studies exist. Based on these incomplete and even somewhat limited studies, eating chocolate may have some benefits for cardiovascular health. It should be noted, however, that the chocolate referred to here generally means \"real chocolate\", that is, the types that contain cocoa powder (such as dark chocolate and milk chocolate); in fact, many research findings specifically point to the effects of \"dark chocolate\" or \"cocoa\". It should be noted that any health benefits of chocolate, if they exist at all, are at most on par with the benefits of eating more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. If one eats chocolate solely for its \"health benefits,\" it’s really a case of \"high investment, low return\" – it’s not cost-effective at all. Chocolate that can be beneficial to health needs to contain a high proportion of cocoa powder, and as a result its price is not low. If giving chocolate to children, it is basically only for satisfying their cravings. And the price of satisfying this craving is the high calories contained in chocolate. Especially the chocolate that children like to eat is often not the \"healthy\" dark chocolate, but rather the types that contain less cocoa powder and more sugar and fat. Regardless of the type of chocolate, a piece weighing around 30 grams contains approximately 150 calories, while a small portion of fries at McDonald’s has just over 200 calories. More importantly, chocolate is after all a \"candy,\" and it cannot avoid all the health hazards associated with candies for children, such as an increased risk of tooth decay, heightened dependence on sugar, and negative effects on the consumption of other healthy foods. In short, chocolate isn’t a monster; it’s fine to indulge children in small amounts from time to time. However, it offers no benefits for children’s health; instead, it has many drawbacks. As a parent, your concerns about chocolate are understandable; indeed, chocolate is not suitable for children to eat. Parents should do their best to prevent their children from developing a habit of liking chocolate.