What's Soy Lecithin Doing in My Chocolate?

FitSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:30:00 PDT

I've been trying to eat more chocolate, only because it has antioxidants, can lower blood pressure, and can even soothe a cough. Well, I'm also addicted, but that's beside the point. I was checking out the label of a bar I picked up and noticed soy lecithin in the list of ingredients. Is it something I should avoid? To find out

read more Soy lecithin is a food additive extracted from soybeans, and is a by-product of soybean oil. Only a small amount (about one percent of the weight of the food) is added to chocolate to keep the cocoa and cocoa butter from separating. It's not bad for you and actually is high in choline, which is also found in egg yolks, and has been found to be good for brain development, increased memory, and heart disease prevention. Awesome. Another reason to eat chocolate. Fit's Tips: Soy lecithin is bad if you have an allergy to soy, since it's made from soybeans. So check labels on all products, especially candy bars, breads, cakes and other baked goods. It's used in dough to make it less sticky, and it's added to cake batter to make it spread in the pan more easily. Source

Cocoa Crisis: Allergic to Chocolate?

FitSugar — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:00:25 PDT

Last week, a friend invited me over for dinner to meet her new guy, and I brought some of my refreshing chocolate sorbet. When I arrived all smiles and ready to ask a million questions as any good friend would, I couldn't believe what I found out - this new beau could not have cocoa. That's right - allergic to chocolate! After hearing that, I was the one asking him a million questions.

Apparently, chocolate allergies are pretty rare. Since chocolate is made up of several ingredients including cocoa, milk, nuts, and soy lecithin, allergies can be triggered not only by cocoa, but also by one of these other ingredients. So if you do meet someone who has an allergy to chocolate, they're most likely allergic to one of these foods as well.

Symptoms of a chocolate allergy include headaches, heartburn, hives, or difficulty breathing. In severe cases, a person can go into anaphylactic shock from eating this sweet treat. It's pretty serious, and the only way to avoid issues is to pass on the triple chocolate mousse, Hershey's Kisses, and cocoa gelato.

This is so sad to me, since I am such a lover of all things chocolate. Tell me, do you know anyone with a chocolate allergy?