Many people enjoy chocolate in one form or another. There are a few choices when you are choosing your favorite form too. You can have liquid or powder chocolate to mix with your drinks, or a chocolate bar, or chocolate on your ice cream or pastries, or chocolate frosting. Chocolate has come a long way since it first became popular. Did you know that chocolate was first used only as a drink, and it was bittersweet due to the use of chili peppers? Thank goodness chili peppers were replaced with sugar to make sweet chocolate.
When chocolate was being made in the United States plantation owners were mistreating their workers. Slavery was already ended by this time, but the workers were still not being treated fairly, they were forced into slave labor. Soon factory owners joined together and started boycotting these plantations that used slave labor. Soon after, there was a formal ban made by Congress that did not allow the use of cocoa that was produced by slave labor. Independent growers now grow Cocoa and is hand grown and harvested.
Today machines are used in most factories to make chocolate. Some places do have handmade chocolate, but this is not very cost effective. With machines you can make a lot more chocolate in a lot less time. There are different machines for all different kinds of chocolate. There are machines that make the candy bars, and there are machines that fill the hollowed chocolate shells. It only takes one person to run these machines instead of many to make the same piece of chocolate. This is why companies can sell their chocolate at a lower price than those who make handmade chocolate.
Chocolate is believed to be good for more than just eating in many cultures. Some cultures use chocolate as a form of currency, religious and medical purposes. One study was just done on the effects of dark chocolate on high blood pressure. If you eat dark chocolate it can help in lowering your high blood pressure. Cocoa butter is another way it is used in modern medicine. Did you know that pills are coated in cocoa butter to make them easier to swallow? Cocoa butter also helps soothe a sun burn. It is even being used in beauty products. Cocoa butter is a rich formula that is great at moistening and softening the skin. Lotions are now adding this to help keep skin soft and moist. Cocoa butter is even said to help with stretch marks on the skin. This is the ingredient in the lotions that is supposed to help reduce and prevent stretch marks.
As you can see chocolate really is good for more than just eating. Most of us didn't need another reason to love chocolate though, I know I didn't.
News reports are abundant concerning a recent study conducted on the sunscreen industry. The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit, has released an investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreens that says that "Only 15% met the panel's criteria for safety and effectiveness", and "that 4 out of 5 don't adequately protect consumers and may contain ingredients with significant known or suspected health hazards." The report continues: "Some of the products of the nation's leading brands are the worst offenders."
Coppertone was named by the Environmental Working Group as having 41 products that failed to meet the group's criteria for safety and effectiveness for issues ranging from failing to protect adequately to containing potentially harmful ingredients to making unsubstantiated claims. Only 1 of 103 products from Banana Boat and Neutrogena -- the second- and third-largest manufacturers is recommended by EWG.
EWG is asking these questions for consumers and pushing the FDA to finalize comprehensive sunscreen safety standards it bagan drafting 30 years ago:
-Does it adequately protect from the damaging rays of the sun? Skin cancers are the fastest growing type of cancer in the United States. Skin cancer represents the most commonly diagnosed malignancy, surpassing lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. More than 1 million Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer in 2008. Overexposure to UV-radiation can cause skin cancer. UVA & UVB have both been implicated in causing DNA damage resulting in cancer.
EWG's study revealed that 7 percent of high SPF sunscreens (SPF of at least 30) protect only from sunburn (UVB radiation), and do not contain ingredient combinations known to protect from UVA, the sun rays linked to skin damage and aging, immune system problems, and potentially skin cancer. FDA does not require that sunscreens guard against UVA radiation. So, apparently, most of them don't.
- Does it include potentially harmful ingredients? One example: Oxybenzone is a a popular chemical UV filter in many sunscreens. The Environmental Working Group says its analysis of hundreds of studies of more than a dozen sunscreen chemicals finds that oxybenzone can penetrate the skin and pose health concerns, anything from hormone disruption to cancer. Over 500 of the sunscreens studied contain Oxybenzone. Of the name-brand sunscreens investigated, over 700 are on the "caution" list for containing potentially hazardous ingredients.
EWG recommends looking for sunscreens containing physical blockers,such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide as a safer alternative.
-Does the sunscreen break down in the sun? Many sunscreen ingredients break down in the sun, some in a matter of minutes, and then let UV radiation through to the skin. EWG's analyses show that 48% of products on the market contain ingredients that may be unstable alone or in combination, raising questions about whether these products last as long as the label says. FDA has not proposed requirements for sunscreen stability.
-Does the product do what it claims on the label? COMMON MISLEADING CLAIMS oBroad-spectrum protection oAll day protection oWaterproof oChemical-free
Many products on the market bear claims that are considered "unacceptable" or misleading under FDA's draft sunscreen safety standards. Claims like "all day protection," "mild as water," and "blocks all harmful rays" are not true, yet are found on bottles. Until the FDA sets an effective date for these standards, the industry is free to use hyped claims. Because of the lack of regulation, companies are free to make their own decisions on everything from advertising claims to product quality. Companies' decisions to inflate claims has spurred class action lawsuits in California.
~ ~THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!~ ~
While the FDA has not regulated the industry adequately, fortunately, there is a sunscreen manufacturer that truly holds the welfare of the consumers and the integrity of their product in high regard. They use all natural, effective sunscreen ingredients that have been proven to be safe, they don't test on animals, they insure that their manufacturing plant performs without chemical runoff, and at the same time, they provide a line of skincare and suncare products that is truly effective and aesthetically pleasing. Their products do what they claim on their labels, they don't make misleading claims.
There ARE moisturizers and sunscreens produced from all natural ingredients that adequately protect from the sun with active ingredients that are not considered health hazards and inactive ingredients that are actually beneficial to your skin's health. One manufacturer specifically has been providing these since 1992 and has marketed exclusively to resorts in tropical locations around the world. These products are now available online.
Both Gregg Hall & Connie Mcaboy are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Gregg Hall has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lingerie, Desserts and Mortgage. Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as at. Gregg Hall's top article generates over 3350000 views. to your Favourites.
Connie Mcaboy has sinced written about articles on various topics from Environment, Desserts and Acne Treatment. You now have some real Sunscreen Facts . An all-natural solution to the chemical dangers of the sunscreens on the market is readily available to you. Go to