Choc lovers from3,400BC

CACAO, the plant used to make chocolate, may have been cultivated as early as 3,400BC in South America.

Experts previously believed it was first grown for food in Central America in about 1900BC.

But a study suggests it was harvested in the upper Amazon basin and foothills of the Andes earlier.

Prof Michael Blake of University of British Columbia said: “It suggests cacao, probably as a drink, was something that caught on and spread north.”