Chocolate Milk, Health, and the Dairy Industry

Let's talk about the impact of the Dairy Industry on health and on chocolate.

A couple days ago I came accross this New York Times article on children's milk drinking habits, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/chocolate-milk-gets-a-makeover/, which was a blissful coincidence since I was studying the Dairy Industry, different cocoa powder production methods, and possible combinations with dairy!

There are two significant aspects to be discussed in the matter presented by the article (SHORT READ): 1, the health issue surrouding dairy products infused with sugar and low quality cocoa powder, 2, how chocolate is being used in these mixes and how its credibility becomes doubted due to "inproper" usage, and 3, discovering a way to get kids to drink milk and ensure their calcium and protein intake.

Starting tomorrow (September 2011), chocolate milk must have less calories and less sugar, the article announces. This is indeed a great starting point. Children today will pave a way to a future of people who prefer artisan chocolate milk with the real taste of chocolate, not sugar. As mammals, we are meant to drink milk and digest it easily in our system. Hence the need for all of us (especially women) to drink our daily dosage of milk. That the health issue present today is of concern, is because of the sugar content used in these combinations.

Now this brings us to matter number 2, which is making sure that manufacturers are using cocoa powder that ensures its taste and quality. Often times, to mask the taste of badly roasted and fermented cacao, distasteful blend combinations, or any process that could have rendered a not so flavorful cocoa product, producers will add sugar and fat to the combination, undervaluing the flavors of the cocoa. I believe that this is where milk producers need to be attentive to: if they study their providers, and work together to produce a good quality product where the milk is good and the cocoa powder used is high on true cocoa cake, then the end product should be healthy and wholesome and children would aquire a good taste for chocolate flavors, not simply candy. The cocoa powder used in these milk combinations undergoes a process named Dutch Processing which helps neutralize the pH of chocolate and delivers a better taste/ flavor combination. This cocoa powder also contains low fat from the cocoa butter, which renders smoothness to the drink. All this sounds wonderful, even without much sugar, which is what is being proposed.

Last, it is understood that children prefer to drink flavored milk (number 1 flavor being chocolate), so even if a slight change on sugar content occurs it should not matter for the small drinkers. If it takes adding chocolate to the milk so that they drink milk, then research and studies must go in the direction of creating a wholesome, healthy drink that children can ingest every day at school.

This will not only ensure the health of children, but also the quality of the cocoa powder. This indeed proves that high quality, unaltered products do have a link to better health.

So cheers to good old cocoa butter chocolate!

Michael D'Antonio's Book on the Hershey Empire

I wanted to start my blog with a book reference which holds great insights and knowledge not only about the chocolate industry, but also about a bit of the 19th and 20th century histories, and also brushes on comprehending and analysing the human nature.

HERSHEY, by MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, is a must read for anyone fascinated with the Hershey Empire and with the American craze for chocolate. D'Antonio's smooth writing takes you on a journey describing Mr. Hershey's life, difficulties and struggles to bring to America what in Europe was already a treasure: chocolate. He was NOT the first to produce chocolate in the USA, but for sure was the first to create the amazing industry that still holds its glory.

Embedded within a fascinating 19th and 20th century background, where we learn about American politics, railroad expansion, East and West diversities, and the rise of capitalism, this book holds sight of what Mr. Hershey was actually trying to accomplish: he wanted to build a community where everyone was equal, happy, employed, and satisfied with life. Interestingly enough, when company shareholders tried to sell the company in 2002 (five decades after the death of the founder), city residents were against it on the basis that such a move would "tear the soul out of the community", read The Wahington Post.

Fascinating as all the context of the Hershey mega-enterprise was and still is, what fascinated me the most was the in depth analysis D'Antonio undertakes to undestand, or maybe just explain, who Mr. Hershey really was. Sympathetic and ambitious, this was a man who was not scared of trying and going after what he thought could be grand. He was a man who never quit, exampled by his tenacity with trying to find the perfect milk chocolate recipe by spending months in his laboratory, and even going after sugar plantations in Cuba and milk producers in Pennsylvania to be able to control production of products that go into chocolate manufacturing. For all that he was able to accomplish, he was, after all, a human being. The book clearly protrays the sad reality of his relationship to his father, and the bipolar man he turned to when seing an employee rest. It also describes in length his bond to the Orphanage School he created, which he left all his wealth and fortune to, showing a man whose values and philosophies were far beyond that of wealth and fortune.

This is a text that teaches us much more than just about the foundation of Hershey. It gives us a deep hold of what an amazing man Mr. Hershey was, despite all his rage and troubled moments, and certainly makes us wonder what we could do to try to be a little bit similar to such an incredible man.

Praise for D'Antonio, whose captivating writing had me finish the book within a couple of days!