Free Republic

NATIONAL GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY On June 11 we celebrate the delicious food holiday known as National German Chocolate Cake Day! We can't think of a better way to learn about a cake with American roots and get our chocolate fix for the day at the same time! #GermanChocolateCakeDay Although the name may sound like the cake originated in Germany, German chocolate cake did not. In fact, the cake's roots can be traced back to 1852 when American Sam German made a type of dark baking chocolate for the American Baker’s Chocolate Company. Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate’s brand was named...

Pfizer’s cholesterol-lowering statin drug Lipitor is one of the most profitable medications of all time. Globally, the lucrative statin market is projected to reach $32 billion by 2032. Yet, for years, there have been published studies reporting that statin drugs lead to profound memory loss and diabetes, and, overall, are entirely worthless. As such, the studies have supplied the basis for reevaluating the guidelines for prescribing statins and theories on cholesterol in general. After all, cholesterol is essential to the human body—if you had none, you would be dead. The studies have likewise questioned why more focus isn’t put on...

The Japanese scientist whose pioneering work led to the creation of statins, the life-saving drugs used by millions, has died at the age of 90. Akira Endo's pivotal work has been likened to the discovery of penicillin. The biochemist is said to have been inspired by Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, prompting him to study mould, or fungi, in his quest to find new medicines. In 1973, Prof Endo found the first cholesterol-lowering compound able to reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes.

Americans nibble their way through more than 3 million tons of chocolate each year, savoring the aromatic bitterness that only the seeds of the cacao plant can deliver. To make the signature flavor palatable as a sweet treat, chocolate manufacturers combine a paste made from cacao seeds with sugar. Lots and lots of sugar – often enough to rival all the other ingredients combined, in fact. Together with significant amounts of saturated fatty acids, provided by the addition of cocoa butter from the fruit, the few health benefits provided by the chocolate bean are swamped by ingredients that increase the...

Some store-bought chocolate desserts may contain dangerous chemicals that could damage your DNA and cause cancer, researchers warn. Scientists found that popular treats like crepes, waffles and cakes contained high levels of carcinogens released during the manufacturing process. These compounds are created when cocoa beans are roasted to help give desserts their chocolatey taste during preparation. The researchers warn they may be evading detection because they are not ingredients intentionally added to the products. The researchers from the Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology (IBST) in Belgium said that molecules, called α,β-unsaturated carbonyls, form while roasting cocoa beans and...

Cocoa prices are at a 47-year high.Your sweet tooth cravings are about to get more expensive. In 2024, the price of cocoa hit an all-time high, reaching a staggering $5,874 on the New York commodities market, according to BBC. This, however, wasn't some one-off event, but rather, the culmination of a more than two-year uphill swing in prices that's already rocking the confectionary industry and is trickling down to consumers like you. “Historic cocoa prices are expected to limit earnings growth this year,” Michele Buck, the president and CEO of the Hershey Company, shared during a Feb. 8 earnings call....

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, stores are relying on procrastinating romantics to make a last-minute dash in stores and online to help clear out the supply of the special-occasion candy. If you’re among them, don’t be fooled by the smorgasbord of cutely packaged candy adorned with hearts and cupids in all shades of rosy hues. Those sweet treats might leave a bitter taste if you do some math on how much more you’re paying for them. Some special Valentine’s Day editions of popular candies, such as Sour Patch Kids, Jolly Ranchers and Haribo appear to be priced higher than the...

Mayor Adams says nobody likes him, and the polls suggest he’s close to correct. An African-American, he blames race — but maybe it’s really because nobody likes a whiner. Especially an unfocused whiner. You know, like a mayor who flits like a firefly from one crisis to the next, a fellow who talks a good game but who — after 25 months in office — has yet to demonstrate that he’s truly up to what often is described as the second-toughest job in America. Certainly Adams has yet to establish a core theme for his mayoralty. He reacts — but...

Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams has pinned his recent political problems on race, saying recent attacks against him are due to his administration being made up of people of color. Adams, who has struggled to contend with the city’s unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants and is facing an FBI investigation into his mayoral campaign, told a town hall in Brooklyn late last week he is being attacked just like New York City’s first Black mayor, David Dinkins. "We are moving the needle forward," Adams said. "Is there more to do? You’re darn right there is, but this committed...

The foods we eat can go a long way in boosting our moods. Here are our favorite snacks for happiness, according to science. Achieving happiness is top of mind for many people, and we'll try just about anything to get it. Whether it's therapy, exercise or meditation, we all want to bring more peace and joy into our lives. When we think about what makes us happy, our diet isn't usually at the top of the list (unless your favorite fast-food joint brings joy to mind). The foods we eat actually play a major role in how we feel. Studies...

A luxury Italian hotel has been forced to apologize after it covered a bikini-clad woman in chocolate as part of a dessert buffet — with a teenage girl among the guests left with a sour taste from the “disgusting” display. Federico Mazzieri said he and his 14-year-old daughter were staying at the Voi Colonna Village in Sardinia when a female employee was slathered in chocolate syrup and made to lie on a table of dessert offerings for at least 30 minutes. The HR manager shared a photo to his LinkedIn, writing of his and his daughter’s disgust at the hotel...

Consumer Reports found dangerous heavy metals in chocolate from Hershey's, Theo, Trader Joe's, and other popular brands. Here are the ones that had the most, and some that are safer.... Consumer Reports scientists recently measured the amount of heavy metals in 28 dark chocolate bars. They detected cadmium and lead in all of them.... For 23 of the bars, eating just an ounce a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and CR’s experts say may be harmful for at least one of those heavy metals. Five of the bars were above those levels for...

At a red-brick factory in the German port city of Hamburg, cocoa bean shells go in one end, and out the other comes an amazing black powder with the potential to counter climate change. The substance, dubbed biochar, is produced by heating the cocoa husks in an oxygen-free room to 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 Fahrenheit). The process locks in greenhouse gases and the final product can be used as a fertilizer, or as an ingredient in the production of "green" concrete. While the biochar industry is still in its infancy, the technology offers a novel way to remove carbon from...

An explosion at a historic chocolate factory in southeastern Pennsylvania left two people dead, several missing and eight injured Friday afternoon. West Reading Borough Police Department Chief Wayne Holben confirmed two fatalities and nine missing after an explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. chocolate factory in West Reading shortly before 5 p.m.

The incident occurred at the RM Palmer Company in West Reading. Two people are dead, 9 are missing and multiple others are injured after an explosion at a chocolate factory Friday in West Reading, Pennsylvania, police and city officials said. The explosion occurred at around 4:57 p.m. at the RM Palmer Company in West Reading, located about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

In just the first day since announcing the release of “Jeremy’s Chocolate,” The Daily Wire has already sold more than 100,000 of the non-woke chocolate bars. After chocolate giant Hershey’s announced its “Her SHE” Women’s History Month marketing campaign, then promptly insulted women everywhere with an ad featuring a biological man as the face of the campaign, Daily Wire co-CEO and god-king Jeremy Boreing announced that he would be rolling out his own line of chocolate bars. “Fine, I’ll do it,” Boreing tweeted. “Introducing Jeremy’s Chocolate. Yes, it’s real. We have two kinds: HeHim and SheHer. One of them has...

Hershey’s launched it’s HER for SHE campaign for international women’s day featuring trans woman Fae Johnstone and the internet brought out it’s blow torches and pointy hoods. People were so disturbed by the campaign that they took to twitter to do what people do on twitter, engage in constructive conversation. The Federalist, editor-in-chief, Mollie Hemingway, tweeted: “So @Hersheys is featuring a male in costume as a woman for its international women’s day ad campaign.” Conservative commentator, John Cardillo, tweeted: “This to me is the biggest problem. Women remain silent as they’re reduced to a costume theme.” The Federalist, co-founder and...

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww5Lf97hXQMMNot so long ago, a left-wing pressure campaign forced Harry’s Razors to cut ties with a couple of right-wing podcasts. Little did they know, that decision would create a thriving competitor in the men’s shaving niche. In a real-world example of punching back twice as hard, Jeremy Boering, the ‘lower-case g lower-case k’ ‘god-king’ of the Daily Wire started a rival company as an elaborate middle finger at Harry’s for pulling ad revenue. (Pay attention business-minded Conservatives sick of the left’s bully tactics, there’s a potentially thriving business model in here for you.) His rival razor company turned...

Dark chocolate has a reputation as a relatively healthy treat, but research showing some popular bars might have potentially unsafe levels of heavy metals has many questioning how safe these treats are. Consumer Reports tested 28 popular dark chocolate bars from Seattle’s own Theo Chocolate to Trader Joe’s, Hershey’s to Ghirardelli, and even smaller brands such as Alter Eco and Mast. The study found cadmium and lead in every single bar. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Consumer Reports last month called on chocolate makers to commit by Feb. 14 to reducing levels of heavy metals in their bars. The...

Federal workplace safety authorities have fined a central Pennsylvania confectionary factory more than $14,500 following an accident last year in which two workers fell into a vat of chocolate.