The media often tells us that dark chocolate is “healthier” than milk chocolate because of its high antioxidant content. Yes, this is
true: dark chocolate contains more than four times the amount of antioxidants than found in milk chocolate (~200 Units/gram
vs. ~45 Units/gram; Miller et al. 2006).
However, what they neglect to tell us is that cocoa powder beats both dark and milk chocolate, with ~800 antioxidant Units/gram! That translates into 4-fold more
antioxidants than dark chocolate, and approximately 18-fold more antioxidants than milk chocolate! So, make your own chocolate at home, with cocoa powder,right?
READ ALSO: What is acrylamide and how is it involved with food and health?
Maybe not. To make cocoa powder, cocoa beans are first roasted at a high temperature. Roasted cocoa beans are processed to remove its cocoa butter,leaving behind the cocoa solids which are then ground, forming cocoa powder.One could argue that the remaining cocoa powder, when used in chocolate is better for health than using raw (non-roasted), ground
cacao beans because cocoa powder has less saturated and total fat.
Although this is true, roasting the cocoa bean (or any grain,nut, or seed) produces acrylamide, a compound that has been shown to be both neurotoxic and carcinogenic (Burek et al. 1980; Johnson et al. 1986; Friedman et al. 1995). Raw cacao beans, because they have not been roasted, do not contain acrylamide.
READ ALSO:Chocolate, food for breast cancer?
How much acrylamide is in a Hershey’s dark chocolate bar? One 43 gram bar contains approximately 30 grams of cocoa powder (70% cocoa solids). Hershey’s cocoa powder contains 909 µg/kg of acrylamide, and when multiplied by 0.03 kg(30 grams), this yields 27.3 µg total acrylamide.The lowest risk for dietary acrylamide-induced toxicity has been recommended to be less than 1.5µg/kg body weight/day (Shipp et al. 2006).
This value translates into 75 µg/day for a 50 kg woman, or 112.5 µg/day for a 75 kg man.So, if you eat one Hershey’s dark chocolate bar, you will have ingested a significant amount towards the 75 or112.5 µg/day or upper limit. It’s important to note that there is indeed difference in acrylamide content when comparing Hershey’s and Ghiradelli cocoa powder: Hershey’s contains 3-fold more acrylamide than Ghiradelli (909
µg/kg vs. 316 µg/kg). So, if you are making your own chocolate at home, the best thing on the list to use would be grinding raw cacao beans. Second would be to use Ghiradelli cocoa powder.
Another food that is thought of as “healthy”are baked potato chips. Not in terms of acrylamide content: Baked! Lay’s Original Naturally Baked Potacto Crisps have 31 µg of
acrylamide per 1 ounce bag. Listed below are other notable sources of dietary acrylamide, including one unhealthy (Pringles), and others commonly thought to
be “healthy”.
