2. Intake of chocolate
’s mouth
The chocolate given to the participants contained a different concentration of cocoa: 30% (white), 34% (milk), and 70% (dark), distributed in a randomized and double-blinded order. The participants were given the chocolate with their eyes closed. The non-blinded examiner (LA, LL) placed the chocolate in the participant’s mouth in each experiment, while the blinded examiner (AH, VK) did all the assessments. To ascertain that there was no possible carry-over effect, the different types of chocolate were given at three different visits to all participants with at least 1 week of washout between visits. The participants were asked to tell which of the three chocolates they preferred once they completed all three sessions.To randomize the order in which the chocolates were given to each participant, an internet-based site was used (The chocolates used in this study were packaged at Gem Chocolates®, Vancouver, Canada, using wafers from Belcolade manufacture in Belgium. They were all made uniform in shape and placed in homogeneous bags, making them blinded for participants and examiners. Each bag contained a single type of chocolate of a given concentration of cocoa. Each type of chocolate was made with a variation in the concentration of cocoa mass (cocoa nibs + cocoa butter), sugar, emulsifier, natural vanilla flavoring, and other products. Based on the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the chocolates were:Dark chocolate: content of 70% cocoa (cocoa beans: 67.495%, cocoa butter: 3.2%, sugar: 28.3%, whole milk powder: 0.5%, sunflower lecithin: 0.4% and e476: 0.1% [emulsifiers], and natural vanilla extract: 0.005%),Milk chocolate: content of 34% cocoa (cocoa beans: 9.8%, cocoa butter: 25.9%, sugar: 42.9%, whole milk powder: 21%, sunflower lecithin: 0.4% [emulsifier], and natural vanilla flavor: 0.04%),White chocolate: content of 30% cocoa (cocoa butter: 30%, sugar: 43.16%, whole milk powder: 21.2%, dried skimmed milk: 5%, lecithin: 0.6% [emulsifier], natural vanilla flavor: 0.04%) [The manufacturer also advises that their product may contain traces of soy. Of note, cocoa content comes from both the cocoa butter and the cocoa nibs that together make the cocoa mass (that is, the same 70% dark chocolate can have different percentages of cocoa nibs and cocoa butter and still be 70%).