Bad news for chocolate lovers

Bad news for people like me who upped their chocolate consumption when we were told its flavanols could protect our hearts.

An editorial this week in top medical journal The Lancet reveals that because of the bitter taste these plant chemicals can impart to chocolate, many manufacturers remove them.

We'd been told in previous studies that plain chocolate, naturally rich in flavanols, can help protect the heart, lower blood pressure and even reduce tiredness.

But if manufacturers are taking them out, what we're left with - apart from the sublime taste and unctuous texture of good chocolate - is its fat and its sugar and its calories.  

"Consumers", writes The Lancet, "are also kept in the dark about the flavanol content of chocolate because manufacturers rarely label their products with this information."

It advises chocolate lovers to balance the calories they'll get from chocolate by reducing their intake in other foods.

I say Rats! to all that. I reckon if you make sure you buy really good high cacao-content chocolate from a reputable market, you're far more likely to be getting quality chocolate with its flavanols intact than if you grab a bar in a colorful wrapper from mainstream supermarkets or pharmacies. And it's so satisfying, you'll eat less of it.

Console yourself over the news with the recipe for Baked Chocolate Sabayon from Tom Power, owner-chef of Corduroy, on the Home Page. He uses Belcolade 60%.