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February 15, 2013

The Poisonous Chemistry of Chocolate

Deborah Blum, Wired


AP Photo

The Latin name for the cacao tree – the tropical plant source of all things chocolate – consists of two words packed with candy-loving scientific exuberance. Theobroma cacao. It derives from the Greek words for god (theo) and food (brosi), roughly translating to “food of the gods”.

Well, sure you say. Obviously. This is chocolate, after all. But it’s not the heavenly reputation of chocolate that I’m here to talk about.

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TAGGED: toxic chemicals, poison, chocolate, chemistry

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