The Food Cravings Questionnaires are the most commonly used instruments for the assessment of trait and state food craving. Chocolate is the most frequently craved food in Western societies. In the current studies, the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r) and the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S) were adapted to capture strong urges for chocolate. In study 1, students (n ...

abstract chocolate is derived from cocoa beans - the fruit of the cacao tree or theobroma cacao (the latin term: food of the gods). recent published articles demonstrate that the quality and quantity of the antioxidants in cocoa and chocolate are very high and their flavonoids are believed to reduce the number of free radicals in the body that contribute to medical problems, such as cardiovascu...

In the present study, the causal influence of chocolate craving on attentional bias for chocolate-related information was examined by experimentally inducing chocolate craving in a sample of high trait chocolate cravers vs. low trait chocolate cravers. A sample of 35 high trait chocoholics and 33 low trait chocolate cravers were randomly assigned to either the exposure condition in which cravin...

Safety in the food industry is gaining more and more importance every passing day. In recent years, several outbreaks of Salmonella have occurred in chocolate products. Traceability and HACCP system are important instruments for the food safety management. Traceability is useful to properly and efficiently handle a recall, but by itself it has no effects on the safety of the production. The HAC...

Several population studies have found an inverse association between flavonoid intake and risk of cardiovascular disease. These studies have resulted in the hypothesis that dietary flavonoids protect against cardiovascular disease. Many in vitro studies, studies using animal models and human intervention trials have been carried out to investigate how flavonoids might provide protection. Emergi...

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous cocoa bean fermentation is characterised by a succession of microbial activities. Cocoa flavour precursors are developed during fermentation and drying of cocoa beans. Polyphenols and alkaloids contribute to astringency and bitterness of cocoa and chocolate. RESULTS: Population dynamics, metabolite target analyses, and chocolate production were performed for seven indepe...

The present study tested the impact of experimentally manipulated perceived availability of chocolate on attention for chocolate stimuli, momentary (state) craving for chocolate and consumption of chocolate in healthy weight female students. It was hypothesized that eating forbiddance would be related to attentional avoidance (thus diminished attention focus on food cues in an attempt to preven...

Liking and craving for chocolate and related substances were surveyed in a sample of University of Pennsylvania undergraduates (n = 249) and their parents (n = 319). Chocolate was highly liked in all groups, with a stronger liking by females. Chocolate is the most craved food among females, and is craved by almost half of the female sample (in both age groups). Although this craving is related ...