Anger as US inspectors target Swiss chocolate

Swiss chocolate makers face inspections from American authorities to ensure their bonbons do not pose a bioterrorism threat in the US, according to a new report.

(The Local) Because of the importance of the US market, chocolate manufacturers in Switzerland are submitting to Uncle Sam’s intrusion in their factories but they are not happy about it.

“The fact that a foreign authority is involved in our Swiss businesses is unseemly,” Daniel Bloch, of Chocolats Camille Bloch, told Handelszeitung, the German-language business journal.

The newspaper has discovered that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to inspect 21 chocolate factories and 18 dairies in Switzerland.

The move is part of the implementation of America’s Food Safety Modernization Act, new legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama last year that aims, among other things, to combat bioterrorism.

The FDA contends that imported food could be contaminated chemically or even in a radioactive way.

Handelszeitung said Swiss chocolate makers are astonished to be subjected to such screening from a foreign country.

“The companies will let the inspections go through because they want to continue to sell to the US,” Franz Schmid, director of the industry association Chocosuisse told the newspaper.
 
But the planned inspections appear to go well beyond health issues to include such details as sales, ownership, employees and the size of company buildings.

“We ask ourselves, what is the real reason for the FDA inspections,” Jacques Gygax, director of the Swiss dairy association Fromarte, told Handelszeitung.

Gygax fears the Americans may be looking for technical barriers to trade and imports.    


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Chocolate Consumption Lowers Men's Stroke Risk

By MyHealthNewsDaily Staff | LiveScience.com 

Eating chocolate may lower men's chance of stroke, according to a new study from Sweden.

Researchers surveyed about 37,000 men and asked how much chocolate they ate on a regular basis. Those whose weekly consumption was the highest — at about a third of a cup —  were 17 percent less likely to have a stroke than the men who didn't regularly eat chocolate.

Chocolate has been shown to improve cardiovascular health when consumed in moderation, and the beneficial component of the sweet treat is likely compounds called flavonoids, the researchers said.

"Flavonoids appear to be protective against cardiovascular disease through antioxidant, anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties, said study author Susanna Larsson, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. "It's also possible that flavonoids in chocolate may decrease blood concentrations of bad cholesterol, and reduce blood pressure," she said.

The researchers surveyed men between ages 49 and 75, about their dietary habits, and studied hospital records to see how many of the men experienced a stroke over the next 10 years. They found 1,995 cases.

In a separate analysis, the researchers surveyed 4,260 men who had experienced a stroke, and found again that those who ate the most chocolate had a lower risk of stroke than their non-chocolate-eating 

counterparts — this time by 19 percent.

Additionally, eating an additional quarter cup of chocolate weekly was linked with a 14 percent lower risk of stroke.

The researchers noted that while most studies that have shown the benefits of chocolate emphasized eating dark chocolate, the men were likely consuming milk chocolate, not dark. Milk chocolate contains less cocoa powder than dark chocolate.

"About 90 percent of the chocolate intake in Sweden, including what was consumed during our study, is milk chocolate," Larsson said.

The study was published today (Aug. 29) in Neurology.

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Eating lots of chocolate helps people stay thin, study finds

(CBS News) What's the best way to stay thin? A new study finds it's exercising and eating a healthy diet full of - chocolate?

The study found that people who frequently ate chocolate had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who didn't.

Is it time to ditch fat-free for fudge?

For the study, published in the March 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers examined more than 1,000 healthy men and women who were free of heart disease, diabetes and cholesterol problems. They were all enrolled in another study that measured the effects of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, but for this study researchers assigned them questionnaires that gauged how often participants chowed down on chocolate.

The researchers found that the participants - who were an average age of 57 - ate chocolate for an average of twice of week and exercised roughly 3.5 times per week. But the more frequent chocolate-eaters had smaller BMIs, a ratio of height and weight that's used to measure obesity.

What explains the effect? Even though chocolate can be loaded with calories, it's full of antioxidants and other ingredients that may promote weight loss, the researchers said.

"I was pretty happy with this news myself," study author Dr. Beatrice Golomb, associate professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego, told USA Today. "Findings show the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining ultimate weight."

Does that mean all diet regimens should include a daily chocolate bar? The researchers say it's too soon to tell.

"Our findings - that more frequent chocolate intake is linked to lower BMI - are intriguing," the authors wrote. However, "It is not a siren call to go out and eat 20 pounds of chocolate a day," Golomb told HealthDay.

This isn't the first study to suggest a daily dose of chocolate can do the body good. Last summer, a study of more than 100,000 people found those who ate the most chocolate were 39 percent less likely to get heart disease and 29 percent less likely to have a stroke, HealthPop reported. Months later a 10-year study of 33,000 women found a 30 percent reduced risk of stroke among chocaholics.

But experts warn not all chocolate is created equal, and some could contain lots of sugar and calories, which could lead to other health issues if consumed daily.

"I would not want people reading this to think that all [they] need to do to lose weight is eat more chocolate," Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Conn., told WebMD. "That would be a huge mistake." Katz suggests dark chocolate, because of its bitter flavor,  may suppress appetite whereas sweet chocolate may stimulate it.

The Mayo Clinic has more on chocolate.

•  Eating lots of chocolate helps people stay thin, study finds

Muppet Show - Swedish Chef - making chocolate moose