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Chocolate: Food of the gods, romantic gesture, dog poison

Should You Really Eat That?
Should You Really Eat That?
Episode • Feb 12 • 23m
In 18th-century France, the royal pharmacist treated Marie-Antoinette’s headaches with chocolate. This sweet even appeared in European hospital prescriptions! Medicinal use of chocolate goes back thousands of years: its main ingredient, cacao, was used to treat snake bites by ancient Mesoamerican societies, for instance. Today, we see headlines about chocolate supposedly being a health food – but is it really? And can blocks and bars be a platform for good in other ways? In this episode, Lee Tran Lam talks to nutrition expert Saman Khalesi, chef Juan Carlos Negrete Lopez and proud Wiradjuri woman and chocolatier Fiona Harrison.

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