Death by Chocolate! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cocoa

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) is native to Central and South America and has a naturally bitter taste. Hence the reason for the extensive process required to manufacture chocolate. The cacao tree produces pods inside of which there are soft seeds or beans, commonly called cocoa beans. The word cocoa is simply a derivative of the word cacao.

Answer: Belgium

Belgian chocolate is world-renowned and the countless chocolate shops across the country maintain the tradition and reputation. Pralines, made of ground nuts and chocolate, are common in Belgium and many people say the best pralines can be found there. As such, it would seem almost ridiculous to visit Belgium and not buy or eat some chocolate!

Answer: Sheep

Theobromine, a naturally occurring chemical in chocolate, is toxic for many animals as they cannot digest it properly. The most common victims of theobromine poisoning are dogs as they are more likely to inadvertently eat chocolate or be given it than other animals.

The darker the chocolate the more theobromine there will be and therefore the greater the risk. However, if your pet has eaten a lot of chocolate and is vomiting or suffering from diarrhoea a vet should be able to cure or help the animal if it is treated promptly.

Answer: Joanne Harris

Although the film is only based on the novel it still retains the key story of a woman and her daughter opening up a chocolate shop in a small Catholic French village during Lent. Unsurprisingly, they are greeted with scepticism and dislike, not helped by the arrival of a group of drifters, but with her mouthwatering chocolate creations they start to find acceptance from the villagers.

Their prospects seem bleak however, as the mayor is deeply resistant and is determined to shut down the business. The novel was written by Joanne Harris and published in 1999, Robert Nelson Jacobs wrote the screenplay for the film. Stephen King and J. K. Rowling, despite both being prolific authors, had nothing to do with either the book or the film.

Answer: True

Shockingly it's true and the facts that over half of the candy sold in America is chocolate and that Americans spend $7 billion on chocolate each year clearly show it. Even so, per person, Americans eat 12 pounds of chocolate each year which is still far behind the world leaders in chocolate consumption, the Swiss, who get through a staggering 21 pounds of chocolate per person, annually.

Answer: Ivory Coast

The Ivory Coast is easily the world's biggest producer of cacao with over 1.2 million metric tonnes in a year. Ghana is second on the list at approximately 700,000 tonnes, followed by Indonesia and Nigeria. In general, the biggest producers of cacao are African and South American countries although Indonesia is a clear exception.

A lot of chocolate is needed to satisfy the world's craving and as a result, cacao has to be cultivated on over 70,000kmē of land across the globe just to produce enough.

Answer: Shokolate

Chocolat means chocolate in French, Schokolade means chocolate in German and Cioccolato means chocolate in Italian. Shokolate doesn't mean anything in any language - I made it up!

Answer: No

In fact, white chocolate is made up primarily of cocoa butter, milk and sugar. In some cases, the cocoa butter has little resemblance to chocolate and it is sweeteners and flavourings which make it taste like white chocolate. Due to the lack of cocoa solids (which is basically the raw chocolate), many people do not even consider white chocolate to be true chocolate!

Answer: Lowers blood pressure

Chocolate naturally contains alkaloids such as theobromine. These have been linked to serotonin levels in the brain which can lower blood pressure. Before you go crazy though, the researches from Germany suggest you eat the chocolate in moderation, otherwise the sugar and fat will limit and outweigh any beneficial impacts, as little as 30 calories worth of dark chocolate will be beneficial, even reducing the risk of stroke mortality by 8%. Also dark chocolate has more alkaloids than milk or white chocolate so the more cocoa solids, the better!

Answer: Cocoa pod borers

Cocoa pod borers (Conopomorpha cramerella) are pests usually found in South East Asia which can result in the death of cacao trees, not something you want to be eating in a tasty dessert. The other treats sound a lot more delicious and would make a much nicer pudding!