Sugar-Free Chocolate

Montezuma drank chocolate straight up! No sugar, no milk, just pure 100% chocolate!

Have you ever eaten 100% chocolate? Ugh! It's BITTER. Many people who are sugar-challenged for health reasons need to find a healthy chocolate that doesn't include sugar.

Depending on your point of view and opinion of what are termed "multi-level" organizations - there is a supposedly healthy organic sugar-free chocolate out there. We have not tried it. We merely report that it's out there.

Let's do a couple of definitions here. Let's look at what a multi-level organization is, plus a short review of some of the sugar alternatives out there.

A multi-level organization is one where the bottom level person sells the product. In order to get promoted in rank, that person then recruits everyone they know to become their distributors - and so on and so on up the chain.

Different sugar substitutes are out there. There's Zero, by Wholesome Sweetners. There's Agave Nectar, like a honey substitute. Honey itself is a sugar substitute. Since I'm not the nutrition expert, but my husband Kirby IS - (due to his 26 years in the natural products field) I asked him. His favorite is Xylitol because of its taste and digestability.

We've tried on a couple of occasions to formulate a sugar-free chocolate here at Smith Organic Chocolates. I've come to the conclusion that my experiments have gone wrong because I don't have professional processing equipment. Either that, or I don't know what I'm doing. :-)

All that being said, there is a new organic sugar-free chocolate out on the market. We have not tried it - we don't know if it's any good. You can Google it. It's called TRU Chocolate.

Smith Organic Chocolates brings you this Organic Chocolate Blog to educate and inform you of chocolate trends, nutrition information, and products. Please post a comment or become a follower! Thanks!

Our New Vanilla Bean Cremes

Since Day One, I've been threatening to take our Coconut Ball center and revise it. Our Coconut Ball is one of our most beloved candies, but some people, like me, don't like coconut. Coconut is one of those things you either like or you don't like. I don't like - but husband Kirby DOES like.

In formulating our new confection, I took out the coconut, and added real organic vanilla bean, vanilla 'Silk' and added organic vanilla extract - and voila!

An organic vanilla bean creme! A friend recently tried one for the first time. You should have seen the look on her face! You'd have thought she just ate the best thing ever! In fact - she SAID so!

"Ohymygosh! This is the BEST candy I EVER ate!" she exclaimed.

I had made some samples to send to a bride we were working with in Ohio for wedding favors. My friend, Renee Kopp, came over to help make 180 of these confections. After eating this, she said, "You HAVE to call them something different than just 'vanilla creme' - they're MUCH too good for THAT!"

A minute later, she cried out! "I've got it! Vanilla BEAN Cremes! Because you put in real vanilla bean!"

I said, "I LIKE it!!" So-o-o-o-o ---- now you have it! Vanilla Bean Cremes. Shown here in milk chocolate because that's what the bride ordered. They are now available on our website in quarter pounds enrobed in dark, milk, or white. A quarter pound will give you about 8 pieces of candy.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the latest in nutritional and product information as it relates to chocolate!

Candy and Chocolate Trends

In the August 2009 issue of Gourmet News, an article was published that confirms what I've been reading and reporting here in this blog.

"'Healthy' tops candy trends" states that "From its potential health benefits to its organic roots and inclusion as an ingredient in many types of sweet and savory foods, we have only begun to experinece the versatility of chocolate."

Wow! ONLY BEGUN to experience the versatility of chocolate! Oooooo!! That sounds good to me. The woman quoted in this article is Susan Smith, who is the senior vice president of the NCA (National Confectioners Association).

Smith Organic Chocolates offers healthy, but sweet candy and confections. We use 99.9% organic ingredients. One of our goals is to be certified organic in the next year or so.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the latest in nutritional value and organic chocolate news so you will be informed.

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Chocolate and Summertime

If you don't want your chocolate to look like this - (this is chocolate liquor (lick-koor) - what can you do?

The answer is: don't keep chocolate in the sunshine. You can refrigerate it or keep it in air-conditioning.

Chocolate melts at skin temperature, 98.6°. That's why it melts all over your fingers when you eat it.

If you're going to travel with chocolate, here's a tip. Freeze a refrigerant gel pack, then place it in an insulated lunch type container. That will keep your chocolates cool and delightful!

If you mail-order chocolate in the summer, the company will be sending along a refrigerant pack or two. Smith Organic Chocolates usually packs two in our summer orders.

You should also pay for either USPS Priority Mail or UPS 2-Day Air. The extra cost is worth it - so that your chocolates end up looking like the photo at left, instead of chocolate liquor.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the best information available in nutrition, product news, and general health information about chocolate.

Organic Chocolate Market Share is Growing

This is why we're here - to bring you organic chocolate. Earlier in our blog posts, we talked a little about why organic is better for you.

Face it, we're in business to make a profit. And since we're into the health benefits of chocolate (as well as the fun & sweet parts), today's post is educational in a different sort of way.

In an article posted on Creators Syndicate's website, it says that organic chocolate sales are growing, in spite of the recession.

"Despite the recession, overall chocolate sales rose 4 percent in 2008, to a whopping $17 billion. Organic chocolates are a bon-bon in the industry's 100-lb. box. But this is the nation's fastest growing snack - U.S. sales lept 450 percent between 1999 and 2007, jumping to $94 million. While figures are not yet available for 2008, vendors already forecast a rosy '09."

Even though we are a new company, only in our third year, Smith Organic Chocolates is growing in sales every year so far. We expect our holiday season to be quite busy and quite profitable. Our Internet website has already paid for itself in orders (and then some) for the year.

So...don't be afraid to treat yourself to some nice organic chocolates! Next time: a little bit about our new Organic Vanilla Creme Truffle!

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you nutritional information available and to encourage you to buy organic!

Chocolate and ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease

Smith Organic Chocolates recently received business from what we would classify as an unusual customer.

I searched the Internet, I Googled. But I could not find a connection between Chocolate and...

ALS - or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Our new customer suffers from ALS, a disease that "affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body.

"The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed." (copied from the ALS website.)

Yet, our new customer says she feels better when she eats chocolate. She eats it every day. She was referred to us by her chiropractor, who was helping her find healthier chocolate to eat.

So - here's my disclaimer! I am not a scientist, I am not a health practitioner...but

Here's my opinion: (and my gut feeling)

We've been discussing the different effects of caffiene vs. theobromine in the body. We showed that caffiene gives you that "up" feeling, but you'll eventually come "down" from it, and it doesn't last very long, before you need more.

Whereas theobromine, the active stimulant in chocolate that is a close cousin to caffiene, gives you energy, and stimulates you over a period of time. You may get a feeling of "well being" from eating chocolate - a lot of people report that.

So...it's my guess that the theobromine in chocolate is helping to gently stimulate our ALS friend and helps her get through the day.

Remember, I said it was only a guess! If there are scientific studies on it - I didn't find them. What do you think? Post a comment and let us know.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you up-to-date information regarding chocolate and it's nutritional value, as well as the value of eating organic.

Chocolate and Caffiene - Part III - not for DOGS!

It's a good thing yogurt was in this bowl, instead of chocolate, or we might have killed our dog Maggie a long time ago - before she died of "old age."


We've been discussing the misconception that chocolate contains caffiene. It does NOT contain caffiene. It contains theobromine, a sort of a stimulant that is similar to caffiene in chemical structure, but not in effects.


We talked about caffiene being like a sprint, and theobromine being like a marathon, releasing it's "stimulating" qualities over a period of time, rather than the quick burst of energy that caffiene provides.


In an article published on About.com, entitled "Chemistry of Theobromine" it says, "Cocoa and chocolate products may be toxis or leethal to dogs and other domestic animals such as horses because there animals metabolize theobromine more slowly than humans. The heart, central nervous system, and kidneys are affected. Early signs of thoebromine poisoning in dogs include nausea and vomiting, reltlessness, diarrhea, muscle tremors, and increase urination or incontenence. The treatment at this stage is to induce vomiting. Cardiac arrythmias and seizures are symptoms of more advanced poisoning."


Chocolate is a very complex food - kind of like wine is. It's important to know about the nutritional benefits of chocolates - as well as understand why our pets can't share in our delictable delight!


Next time: Chocolate and Lou Gehrig's disease