At last – low-fat chocolate that tastes even better than real thing

Scientists use blast of electricity to make the confectionery healthier – and more chocolatey

SALVATION could be in store for guiltridden chocolate lovers after scientists finally cracked the method of producing low-fat chocolate.

Researchers in America successfully reduced the fat content of the chocolate used in Mars bars by more than 10 per cent, after firing electricity through the liquid chocolate during the production process.

Up until now, attempts to produce low-fat chocolate have largely stalled because, counter-intuitively, reducing the fat content increases viscosity of the liquid and clogs up production pipelines.

Chocolate is composed of cocoa, sugar, milk solids and other particles suspended in liquid fat such as cocoa butter.

It is one of the most popular food types and flavours in the world, but at around 40 per cent fat by volume, or up to 60 per cent for chocolate used to coat ice-creams, is also closely associated with causing obesity.

Scientists at the University of Philadelphia applied a technique called electrorheology, which they say successfully altered the micro-structure of chocolate to create a version both healthier and tastier than the full-fat staple.

Writing in the Proceedings of the Na

tional Academy of Sciences journal, the researchers describe how they applied an electric field along the direction of flow of liquid chocolate, causing solid cocoa particles to clump together in streamlined chains.

Because particle shape influences intrinsic viscosity, the scientists predicted that the clumping would break the particles’ rotational symmetry and reduce both the viscosity and the minimum amount of melted fat required to maintain proper texture and flow within the pipeline.

They managed to reduce the viscosity of a sample of Mars chocolate by 43.5 per cent, enabling a reduction in fat content of more than 10 per cent.

They successfully achieved similar results with chocolates from other manufacturers, suggesting the method could be widely applicable.

“Especially because children are the leading chocolate consumer, reducing the fat level in chocolate products to make them healthier is important and urgent,” wrote the researchers.

They added: “The treated chocolate has wonderful taste. Some people even claim that ER [electrorheology]-treated chocolate has a slightly stronger cocoa solid flavour, better than the original chocolate.

“We are thus expecting a new class of healthier and tastier chocolate products soon.”

Last week it emerged that there are now more than 500 children in England and Wales with type 2 diabetes The surge from the first reported case in 2000 has been overwhelmingly blamed on poor diet, with the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit finding 95 per cent of the type 2 diabetics to be overweight, meaning a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 29, while 83 per cent were obese, with a BMI of 30 or above.

In March George Osborne announced a “sugar tax”, however it will target manufacturers of sugary soft drinks rather than solid confectionery.

‘Because children are the leading chocolate consumer, reducing the fat level is important and urgent’