Hershey Foods Corporation and the Love of Chocolate

Among the largest manufacturers of chocolate and confectionery products in America is known as a company called The Hershey Foods Corporation. The company is a major exporter of chocolate-related products and has additional factories in Canada and Mexico. This company was founded in 1894 by Milton Hershey which is located in Hershey Pennsylvania.

By the age of fifteen, the young Hershey, following a candy apprenticeship attempted to run his own candy shop in Philadelphia which failed after six years. But undeterred by his failure he continued to operate on his business idea of making caramel with fresh milk until in 1886 he returned to Lancaster founded the Lancaster Caramel Company and made a success of the company until he sold it for $1 million in 1900.

Seven years after founding the Lancaster Caramel Company, Hershey made a decision to concentrate on making chocolate-covered caramels after buying a German chocolate-making machine and in 1894 he established the Hershey Chocolate Company that manufactured baking chocolate, chocolate coating, sweet chocolate and cocoa. A dedicated chocolate manufacturing plant was constructed by the company in 1905 and shortly the local community was dominated by the Hershey name together with the company's activity for chocolate for love.

The firm went from strength to strength although Hershey would not trust in advertising and marketing and he made a poor investment in Cuban sugar in the 1920s. The Great Depression saw a downturn in the market but to survive Hershey open his doors to public tours to promote his chocolate by referral and kept the regional population employed through various construction projects.

However, Hershey generously did not stop there, he and his wife, who were childless established a school for orphans in 1909, the Hershey Industrial School, which has eventually renamed the Milton Hershey School in 1995 and still owns 35.5 percent of the company's stock via a trust fund.

In 1945 following Hershey's death the firm continued in the 'giving' tradition of its founder and established the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of Pennsylvania State University in the town of Hershey.

The company continued to prosper during the 1960s and began diversifying its product range outside of chocolate for love towards pasta and it brought two pasta companies established the company name to Hershey Foods Corporation. As the company expanding into Europe it started advertising and marketing and in 1980 it acquired rights of the British candy maker Cadbury Schweppes PLC. The expansion grew with acquisitions in Canada, Sweden and the Ronzoni Foods Corporation, that make Hershey the most significant supplier of dry pasta in the north American market.

The following is a snap shot of the more popular Hershey products:

Hershey: milk chocolate bars, Kisses chocolates, Jujyfruits candy, Twizzlers licorice candy, cocoa, chocolate syrup, baking chocolate, peanut butte, ice cream toppings, Cadbury's chocolate bars, York peppermint patties, Luden's throat drops, Jolly Rancher, Whoppers, Milk Duds, Good & Plenty, PayDay, Heath, asaU Chuckles, dry pasta

Reese: peanut butter cups, Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars. Pieces Candy

Canadian Products: Chipits chocolate chips, Eat-More candy, Glosette candy. Pot of Gold boxed chocolates, Oh Henry! chocolate bar

To date Hershey remains committed to producing chocolate for love for all their clients.

Find out more about healthy chocolate visit chocolate for love and to get immediate access to my FREE email chocolate health mini-course, visit Extraordinary Health Benefits of Chocolate. Steve Campbell has a keen interest in chocolate, health and nutrition.

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Cookie Recipes For the Chocoholic in You

Chocolate, now who doesn't love chocolate? And cookies are on of our favorite things from our toddler days to the grave! Chocolate and cookies; two of our favorite things. The recipes in this article will bring the two together for some awesome cookie treats! Whether you like your chocolate in chunks, or chips, there is a recipe here for you! The Mocha Chocolate Chips are made with a healthier cookie in mind. They have both all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, less sugar, and healthy walnuts. Yet they are delicious!

CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES WITH OATS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup quick oats
1 1/4 cups chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease 2 large baking sheets; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Into a small bowl sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add flour mixture to the creamy mixture, beating constantly. Stir in the oats and chocolate chunks.

Spoon dough by tablespoonfuls about 2-inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool 1 minute on the baking sheets. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

HEALTHIER MOCHA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Splenda Granulated
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup instant coffee powder*
2 squares (1-oz each) unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water and cook, stirring often, until melted; remove and allow to cool.

Mix the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with the sugar and Splenda, with mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla extract, coffee powder and then add the melted chocolate; beat until blended.

With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture just until blended. With a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls, two inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies puff up and the dough loses its shine. Allow to cool 1 minute before removing from the cookie sheet to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: Approximately 40 cookies.

*If using instant coffee granules, you need to crush them or powder them in a blend or food processor.

Enjoy!

For more of Linda's dessert recipes visit her blog at http://ladybugssweettreats.blogspot.com/
For her diabetic dessert recipes visit her at http://diabeticenjoyingfood.blogspot.com/

Original article

Chocolate Is Good for You - Too Good to Be True?

According to the German chemist, Baron Justus von Liebig, (1803-1873): "Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power...". These are sentiments with which most modern palates can identify! Chocolate, and by that I mean the quality stuff, has become a highly sophisticated, very adult and often daily indulgence.

Throughout its glamorous history, however, chocolate has always been a much-coveted commodity. Chocolate has its origins in a bitter, dark beverage that was first enjoyed by the Mayans and Aztecs of Central America, over 3,000 years ago. Later, during the sixteenth century, Columbus introduced cocoa beans to Spain. From then on, a passion for chocolate swept through the noble houses of Europe. Chocolate first reached England in the 1650s, but it remained an expensive luxury for at least another 200 years. Interestingly, however, it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century that chocolate was produced in solid form for eating; and to this day, chocolate has remained synonymous with the good things in life.

But now for the real chocolate icing on the cake...

Several recent scientific studies have come up with encouraging news for chocoholics. A body of research, for example, suggests that eating a daily portion of chocolate may help maintain a healthy circulation, thanks to the naturally occurring compounds in chocolate called flavanols. Based on these findings, a number of chocolate manufacturers are introducing new production procedures designed to retain the optimum levels of flavanols in their chocolate. They are taking the matter very seriously indeed. Many restaurateurs are also jumping on the bandwagon of chocolate respectability by serving up chocolate concoctions that simply cannot be ignored. Morgan Meuniers's Islington restaurant, for instance, even offers a choice of cocoa content for its chocolate moelleux desserts, ranging from 45% milk chocolate to 70% dark. Other restaurants have introduced their own spin on the chocolate issue and any chef worth his or her cocoa beans uses only the very best quality chocolate in their signature chocolate-based creations.

So, if you thought that chocolate was wicked and no more than a pure indulgence, think again. Here are some fascinating findings that will have you reaching for chocolate in any shape or form:

• Research published in the highly respected "Journal of the American Medical Association" reveals that chocolate is good for cardiovascular health. In clinical trials subjects who consumed just 25 grams a day of semi-sweet dark chocolate, which is rich in flavanols showed significant reductions in the platelet activity that causes blood components to stick to the blood vessel walls and impede blood flow. A small daily portion of chocolate, however, may help promote normal blood flow and maintain a healthy cardiovascular system as well as reducing the risk of developing blood clots.

• Other studies have revealed that the flavanols found in chocolate may help decrease the oxidation of "bad" cholesterol (LDL, Low Density Lipoproteins). Oxidised LDLs increase the build up of plaque on the lining of blood vessel walls. When this happens blood flow is restricted, which may result in the development of conditions such as high blood pressure, atherosclerosis and other types of heart disease.

• Important European research has also shown that dark chocolate has greater anti-oxidant properties that can protect us from a whole range of life threatening diseases including heart attack and possibly even cancer. But, researchers at the University of Glasgow and at Italy's "Institute for Food and Nutrition Research" concluded that volunteers had to eat twice as much milk chocolate as dark chocolate to obtain the same levels of antioxidants. Further research is ongoing to establish whether dairy products consumed in combination with dark chocolate may actually reduce its antioxidant effects.

In all these various studies, dark chocolate, which is higher in flavanols, appeared to contain greater health-giving properties than milk chocolate.

Ultimately, as with all good things in life, moderation is called for when it comes to chocolate consumption, largely due to its high saturated fat content. But, hey, it can't be all bad! On the contrary; we now know that chocolate, with its reliable feel good factor can also make us fell fit and well.

Paul T Gregory works at the TheWrd.com and is eclectic online writer. This article may be reprinted and copied as long as this signature and link are displayed.

Original article