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...Worry no more - Mars, Inc. is going taking that decision out of your hands. The company that produces M&Ms, 3 Musketeers, Snickers and Twix bars has vowed to stop shipping any Mars chocolate products that exceed 250 calories per portion by the end of 2013. Right now a regular Snickers bar has 280 calories and each Twix cookie bar has 130 calories. Mars will most likely stop producing its king-sized candy bars all together since the large Snickers bar weighs in at 510 calories."We have a responsibility to help our consumers and the pets they love lead healthy lives,"...

Ready to say goodbye to a sliver of your Snickers? And how about a slightly slimmer Mars bar? By the end of 2013, chocolate-maker Mars says all of its chocolate bars will be under — or right at — the 250-calorie mark. With all the fixation on our civilization's expanding waistlines, it's not that there are bad foods, just big foods. That means you won't be seeing lower-calorie chocolate or caramel — just less of it. And the company says it wants to be an industry leader, helping its customers enjoy "responsible snacking." It sort of reminds me of beer...

A reading teacher at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach has been accused of screaming at a Haitian student in her class last year, telling him to shut up and calling him a "little chocolate boy" and a "chocolate that nobody wanted." According to the district, Leslie Rainer, 46, of Deerfield Beach, has been spoken to twice before about her remarks to minority students, including an incident in which she allegedly told a student, "I wish they would put you in a boat and send you back where you came from."

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. -- A local school district has removed chocolate milk from its menus, but students aren't giving up their sugary drink without a fight. The Tahoma School District has spent the past three years reworking its lunch menu to offer students healthier foods. It already did away with canned fruit, and now officials are taking chocolate milk off the menu.

The trust company, under investigation by the Pennsylvania state attorney general's office, manages a $7.5 billion charity. The trust also holds 77 percent of the voting stock in the Hershey Company, including the Hershey Foods Corporation....The precise nature of the investigation has not been disclosed, but local news media have previously questioned the trust's purchase of a financially troubled golf course—for $12 million—that was partially owned by a then-trustee; the building of a $5 million bar and restaurant on the course; and the sale of the chocolate factory in downtown Hershey, PA, to private investors.

Scientists say climate change will eventually claim many victims -– including, according to a new report, chocolate. As temperatures increase and weather trends change, the main growing regions for cocoa could shrink drastically, according to new research from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. Ghana and the Ivory Coast –- which produce more than half of the global cocoa supply –- could take a major hit by 2050. Currently, the optimal locations to grow the crop are about 330 feet to 820 feet above sea level, with temperatures of about 72 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees. That range will soar...

Chocolate Fondue - 1 and 1/4 cups whole milk - 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter - 4 ounces Ghiradelli 70% Cacao Extra Bittersweet Chocolate baking bar (broken up into pieces) - 4 ounces Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Baking Bar (also broken up into pieces) Pour the milk, vanilla extract and butter into a saucepan. Heat the saucepan on medium and mix well. When it has begun to slightly boil from the heat, remove from the burner and pour in the bittersweet and milk chocolate bar pieces. Keep stirring until the bars are completely melted and the...

Scientists found that small amounts of dark chocolate may improve health in a similar way to exercise. The researchers focused on the mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses in cells that generate energy, and discovered that a plant compound found in chocolate, called epicatechin, appeared to stimulate the same muscle response as vigorous activity. ''Aerobic exercise, such as running or cycling, is known to increase the number of mitochondria in muscle cells. Our study has found that epicatechin seems to bring about the same response - particularly in the heart and skeletal muscles.''

Chocolate Good for the Heart and Brain Michael O'Riordan   August 29, 2011 (Paris, France) — In a city renowned for its love of food, it is only fitting that researchers presented the results of a new study in Paris, France, showing that chocolate is good for the heart and brain. In a presentation at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2011 Congress, British investigators are reporting that individuals who ate the most chocolate had a 37% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke compared with individuals who ate the least amount of chocolate. In the study, published online...

PARIS -- Willy Wonka may have been on to something with that chocolate factory, according to a meta-analysis that suggests chocolate can provide a heart benefit. In six studies, people who ate the most chocolate -- about two pieces of chocolate per week -- had a 37% lower risk of any cardiovascular disease compared with those who ate less (RR 0.63, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.90), according to Oscar Franco, MD, PhD, of the University of Cambridge in England. And in three studies, those who consumed the most had a 29% lower risk of stroke (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.52...

MONTREAL -- Scientists in Canada said Monday that they plan to study whether eating dark chocolate not only satisfies sweet tooth cravings, but protects against sunburn as well. The study by researchers at Laval University in Quebec will monitor the effects of chocolate consumption on fair-skinned volunteers between the ages of 25 and 65, each of whom will be prevailed upon to eat three squares of chocolate per day for 12 weeks. Earlier research in Germany and Britain has found that chemicals in chocolate called polyphenals increase blood flow close to the skin, which helps protect against ultraviolet rays, but...

(During a taste test, participants that were told that the chocolate was from Switzerland enjoyed it more. Those told of the chocolate's supposed origin after the taste test enjoyed it less.) Swiss chocolate's reputation influences how people rate it in taste tests, a new study shows. When consumers are told that they're about to eat a chocolate bar from Switzerland, they prefer it to that same bar tagged "made in China." If they are told about the Swiss chocolate bar's origin after they taste the candy, however, they say they prefer the Chinese chocolate. Researchers from Babson Collegein Wellesley, Mass.,...

Vanilla, Chocolate Top List of Favorite Ice Cream Flavors Thursday, July 14, 2011 When it comes to frozen treats, Americans prefer to keep it simple. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adults who eat ice cream at least occasionally finds that 23% say vanilla is best, while the same number (23%) prefers chocolate. Nine percent (9%) like butter pecan the most, while strawberry and cookies and cream each earn eight percent (8%) of the vote. Six percent (6%) prefer mint chocolate chip, and another four percent (4%) choose coffee flavored ice cream. Seventeen percent (17%) prefer some other...

3D Chocolate Printer looks as quite an amusing name at the first glance. It makes you want to know what it really does. The 3D Chocolate printer allows you to create your own designs on a computer and reproduce them physically in three dimensional form in to chocolate. This interesting project is funded as part of the Research Council UK Cross-Research Council Programme – Digital Economy and is managed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) on behalf of ESRC, AHRC and MRC. It is being led by the University of Exeter in collaboration with the University of...

Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles school board on Tuesday voted to eliminate chocolate and strawberry milk from schools as of July 1. LAUSD joins a growing number of school districts nationwide, including in the District of Columbia, Boulder Valley, Colo., and Berkeley, Calif., that serve only plain milk because of the added sugar contained in flavored versions. The proposal by Superintendent John Deasy came after popular British TV chef Jamie Oliver criticized the district in recent months for serving flavored milks, saying they contain the sugar equivalent of a candy bar.

Players: Naomi Campbell; Cadbury Chocolate. Opening Serve: Model Naomi Campbell was not flattered by the use of her name in Cadbury's recent ad for a new chocolate bar reading, "Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town." An offended Campbell said she was "shocked. It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women and black people. I do not find any humor in this. It is insulting and hurtful," according to The Daily Mail. After the Kraft-owned British confectioner refused to remove the ad from papers, The Independent reported that Campbell was...

A new ad for Cadbury chocolate is leaving a bitter taste with Naomi Campbell. The supermodel is looking at "every option available," including legal action, in response to a promotion that compares the celebrity to a Dairy Milk Bliss bar. The ad reads, "Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town," and shows the candy bar nestled in diamonds. The campaign ran in supermarkets and newspapers in the U.K. Campbell told the U.K. newspaper the Independent, "I am shocked. It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women and black people. I...

This was one of the two cakes commissioned by William and Kate for their wedding. The chocolate cake was William’s boyhood foody fetish.

Los Angeles schools will remove high-sugar chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk from their lunch and breakfast menus after food activists campaigned for the change, L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy announced this week. Deasy revealed his intent, which will require approval by the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education, during an appearance with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Tuesday night. The policy change is part of a carefully negotiated happy ending between the Los Angeles Unified School District and Oliver. The chef's confrontations with the school system became a main theme in the current season of the TV reality...

Italian chocolate tycoon Pietro Ferrero, the joint chief executive of the group that owns Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, has died in a cycling accident in South Africa, a company spokesman said.Mr Ferrero, who was 47, fell from his bicycle during a regular riding session, probably because he was taken ill, while on a business trip in South Africa, the spokesman said, voicing the group's "deep dismay". Ferrero had co-run the sweets company with his younger brother Giovanni since 1997. Their 85-year-old father Michele, who turned the firm into a global leader of the confectionery industry after taking over in 1957,...