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WHITE CHOCOLATE OR DARK CHOCOLATE?

Who doesn’t know chocolate? Most people eat chocolate, don’t they? Chocolate has

been a popular food around the world for its fine taste. In a book titled “Saving Women’s

Hearts”, its writers, Martha Gulati and Sherry Torkos, reveal that people are estimated annually

to consume 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of chocolate (Gulati & Torkos, 2013, p. 170). There are 3

main kinds of chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate, which we can

easily find at grocery stores. All of them contain cocoa butter (a vegetable fat that is derived

from the cocoa bean) with different amounts. Usually, they are eaten as desserts or used in

many confectionery products. Despite of the similarities, dark chocolate and white chocolate

are two kinds of chocolate that have some interesting things to be compared, which are the

ingredients, the health benefits, and the price.

While being produced, white chocolate and dark chocolate have different ingredients.

Beans of cacao, the main ingredients of chocolate, is processed and broken down into

chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder (the non-fat part of the cacao beans). Dark

chocolate is produced by adding small amount of cocoa butter and sugar in to the chocolate

liquor and cocoa powder. Dark chocolate has higher proportion of cocoa beans, as we can see it

from the color of the product which is quiet dark. In contrast, white chocolate contains only

cocoa butter, with lots amount of sugar and milk solids. There is neither chocolate liquor nor

cocoa powder at all in white chocolate. To support this, Gulati and Torkos say that “White

chocolate isn’t truly chocolate – it is not made with cocoa and does not contain any flavonoids”

(Gulati & Torkos, 2013, p. 171). So technically, white chocolate is not a chocolate at all, as it

doesn’t contain any cocoa beans.

The differences of their ingredients affect to the health benefits between white

chocolate and dark chocolate. Cocoa beans contain an element called flavonoids, which acts as

antioxidants. For instance, flavonoids can prevent body to get some dangerous heart diseases.

Gulati and Torkos state that “the antioxidant flavonoids in cocoa help reduce the risk of clotting

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and protect the inside lining of arteries that feed the heart. Cocoa has been shown to reduce

LDL cholesterol and modestly reduce high blood pressure” (Gulati & Torkos, 2013, p. 171). It is

clearly seen that dark chocolate is good for our hearts as it contains more flavonoids.

Moreover, womenshealthmag.com explains other health benefits of dark chocolate, some of

which are diabetes prevention, weight loss, stress-reliever, sun protection, higher intelligence,

and cough relief. (Women's Health Mag). On the other hand, white chocolate doesn’t have any

flavonoids, making it less nutritious than dark chocolate. Meanwhile, Sara Ipatenco wrote in

sfgate.com, “While white chocolate contains a good amount of calcium, it isn't a healthy food

because it doesn't supply significant doses of other essential nutrients to make up for the high

calorie, sugar and fat content” (Ipatenco). Furthermore, dark chocolate is a better choice for

people who are in diet program. In contrast, white chocolate has high proportion of sugar and

milk solids, which obviously has many calories in it that can lead somebody to get obesity or

overweight.

Difference of cocoa beans proportion also affects the price. Dark chocolate contains

more cocoa beans, making it longer to be processed, which costs higher than white chocolate.

Moreover, we can see how many cocoa beans are used in a dark chocolate by seeing at the

package. There are usually a number of percentages, e.g. 35%, 70%, and more. White

chocolate, on the other hand, is usually cheaper as it contains a small amount of cocoa butter,

and the rest is just sugar and milk solids. Sadly, there are still a lot of people who prefer to buy

white chocolate because they suppose it is much cheaper yet tastier than the dark one, without

knowing or thinking about the side effects.

As we see the differences between dark chocolate and white chocolate, I’m sure people,

from toddlers to grandparents, will keep eating chocolate because of its delicious taste.

Hopefully, people might start to change their habit to eat more dark chocolate rather than the

white one for they have know the magical benefits of dark chocolate after reading this. There is

nothing that can hold us to eat chocolate. Its popularity makes us want to eat it and eat it again.

But most of all, eat it in a right amount, and enjoy it.