Chocolate is one of the world’s favourite foods. For this reason on the 7th of July we will celebrate all things chocolate! This day was chosen because people think that this is when chocolate was introduced to European countries. World Chocolate Day is all about eating chocolate! It’s a celebration of chocolate creations everywhere. 

Find out more about this special day. Listen to the report and then read the audio script.

World Chocolate Day must be one of the best holidays in the world. It’s such a great idea. It could be the most celebrated holiday in the world. Everyone loves chocolate. It is probably the most popular food ever. It is also probably the most popular flavor in the world. No one knows where Chocolate Day came from. Perhaps it was a secret marketing campaign by chocolate makers.

On this day, we celebrate our love for this sweet and spoil ourselves. Start the day with chocolate spread on your toast. Take a bag of chocolates to work and give them to your workmates; a bar of chocolate for your boss. Enjoy a piece of chocolate cake for dessert and wash it down with a mug of hot chocolate. You have another 364 days to lose the calories!

Chocolate comes from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Cacao has been grown for thousands of years in Central America and Mexico. Historians believe chocolate was first produced in Mexico by the Aztecs. The word ‘chocolate’ comes from an Aztec word for a drink made from the cacao seed.

The product of the cacao seed has a very bitter taste. The chocolate we know and love contains sugar, milk and milk powder.

Chocolate contains chemicals that can be good for us. Scientists say it can lower our blood pressure and make us feel positive. It also gives us a tasty energy boost and makes our brain more active. It’s not all good news though. Too much chocolate can make us fat and give us tooth decay.

Chocolate
The Chocolate Factory
Video> The Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
Video> Chocolate Bites Recipe

Read these interesting facts about chocolate:
• Chocolate is America’s favorite flavor. A recent survey revealed that 52 percent of U.S. adults said they like chocolate best. The second favorite flavor was a draw (at 12 percent each) between berry flavors and vanilla.
• U.S. chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the almonds produced in the United States and 25 percent of domestic peanuts.
• U.S. chocolate manufacturers use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make chocolate.
•Fifty-three percent of adults aged 55 or older prefer dark chocolate while thirty-seven percent favor milk chocolate. The younger crowd is different, with fifty-five percent of people aged 18-34 choosing milk chocolate and only thirty-one percent preferring dark.
• The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human body temperature (98.6 degrees) — which is why it literally melts in your mouth.

True or False

The third favourite flavor for Americans is vanilla.

Sixty-five percent of all peanuts and almonds is grown in the U.S.

Low-fat milk is used to produce chocolate.

Young adults prefer milk chocolate.

The melting point of cocoa is about 36.5°C.

True or False

The third favourite flavor for Americans is vanilla.
FALSE – a draw means they both got the same number of points 

Sixty-five percent of all peanuts and almonds is grown in the U.S.
FALSE – only 25%

Low-fat milk is used to produce chocolate.
FALSE – they use whole milk

Young adults prefer milk chocolate.
TRUE

The melting point of cocoa is about 36.5°C.
TRUE – In the USA they usually measure temperature in fahrenheit and not celsius.

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