Bravo to Hershey!

Next weekend I will be throwing a birthday party for my youngest daughter.  Instead of cake, she wants to have s'mores; that wonderful and messy campfire dessert with graham crackers, marshmallows and a small or large portion of chocolate combined with fun and googyness make for a great memory treat.
I will not be using the chocolate I create as it is expensive and her little friends would not appreciate the flavors I work so hard to create.  I will be using Hershey's milk chocolate bars another comfort chocolate of my youth.  To use my chocolate would be like using a handful of Himalayan sea salt to flavor pasta water when regular salt would be best.  I shutter at the thought.  For me, every chocolate created has a place at my table, depending on who my guests will be and what I am serving.
Why would I mention this? Well, I have learned that  Hershey has funded a study that supports my post on the reduction of flavanols in cocoa beans when submitted to heat. Hershey's honesty and integrity make me proud to purchase their product. Many of the large chocolate companies are currently researching the health benefits of chocolate and they have been funding these studies for a long time. To have a health benefit while eating a much loved candy can only improve the bottom line. The study doesn't take away what appears to be a small cardiovascular benefit  from eating dark chocolate;  it calls into question what does it mean to have a raw cocoa bean. I have eaten a raw cocoa bean.  I have yet to see or eat a truly raw cocoa bean in California.  


I am trying to attach a link via the article to eBlogger but the link will not work.  I will try to get a working link soon.  Below is a copy and paste paragraph of the article in Confectionery News by Jane Byrne.

"The authors reported that in terms of the epi/cat ratio, the highest were found in unripe and ripe, unfermented dried beans. Fermentation and roasting lowered the epi/cat ratio further, with the lowest ratios found in Dutch-processed cocoa powders." Source: The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry
DOI:10.1021/jf102391q
Title: Impact of Fermentation, Drying, Roasting, and Dutch Processing on Epicatechin and Catechin Content of Cacao Beans and Cocoa Ingredients
Authors: M.J Payne, W. J. Hurst, K. B. Miller, C. Rank, D. A. Stuart