The Unlikely Medical History of Chocolate Syrup

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/unlikely-medical-history-chocolate-syrup-180964779/?no-ist

by ohjeez • 9 years ago

31 23 9 years ago

smithsonianmag.com

skookumchuck2• 9 years ago

Chocolate milk was also originally sold as a way to sell milk that was an inferior grade.

agumonkey• 9 years ago

I wonder what % of all products started this way.

Also related, milk producers that are being milked (sic) by distribution giants are now pivoting to icecream because 1) they can sell at much much higher profit 2) traditionally made ice cream was forgotten and people realize how better the flavour is

Waterluvian• 9 years ago

"Frozen Dessert" is awful tasting. Bring on the four ingredient ice cream!

mhb2• 9 years ago

What is this traditional method that is superior? There seem to already be plenty of excellent commercial brands as well as purveyors using various liquid gases for rapid freezing with minimal crystal growth.

ars• 9 years ago

I believe Velveeta cheese started as a way of using up small shreds and pieces of cheese that could not be sold as blocks.

(I think today they purpose-make it, and small blocks are just sold as shredded cheese.)

Sausage was invented (who knows how long ago) as a way of using up the parts of the animal that were otherwise not edible.

I don't think of these things as "inferior", but rather simply as a way of avoiding waste.

pjc50• 9 years ago

Tomato ketchup.

tudorw2• 9 years ago

Pro-Tip, buy unsalted butter and add your own salt, salt is added to butter to hide the low grade stuff :)

Finnucane• 9 years ago

Actually, salt was added to butter originally in the days when there wasn't so much refrigeration. What sold in the stores now as salted and unsalted butter is identical except for the salt content. It is true that if you keep your butter in the fridge and use it mainly for baking, it is better to get unsalted. If you're going to keep it in a butter bell, you need salted.

delinka• 9 years ago

"Pharmacists once used chocolate syrup to mask the bitter flavor of their remedies"

As a flavoring, not with a medicinal use all its own.

ianai2• 9 years ago

Well, theobromine is pretty great in itself.

Dylan16807• 9 years ago

That does work really well, I've used it on crushed pills.

coldcode• 9 years ago

I've always wondered what the original flavor of Coke tasted like with Cocaine as an ingredient.

yters• 9 years ago

Still is made with coca leaves, so probably similar.

surement• 9 years ago

Indeed. For anyone wondering: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company

erdbeerkuchen• 9 years ago

I know that cocaine can be used as a numbing agent. Do you know whether the original Coca Cola was able to make your tongue go numb?

The Unlikely Medical History of Chocolate Syrup

Related Stories