Can anyone imagine a celebration or a party without chocolate? Hardly! Birthdays, Christmas, sweet presents for the loved ones – this sweet dessert accompanies our lives every day.
Of course, like other products, chocolate is not eternal.
Can chocolate go bad? That’s what we are headed to find out!
Benefits Of Eating Chocolate
A common belief exists that consuming chocolate often will lead to quite unpleasant results. We are frightened by the weak teeth, allergic reactions, gaining weight, and other unattractive perspectives.
But is it truly so? Is chocolate so harmful indeed?
Of course, any product must be consumed reasonably. Even overeating fruits may also affect our health not in the best way.
However, chocolate was undeservedly blamed. This kind of confection does have quite impressive positive qualities that we can benefit from!
- Choco with a high cocoa content is very nutritious being rich in fiber
- It is a source of iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, zinc, and lots of other useful elements
- Chocolate works greatly as an antioxidant
- Pure chocolate affects positively on our bloodstream and veins improving the blood flow and lowering our blood pressure
- This dessert protects our heart from heart attacks and diseases
- It’s good for the skin
- And finally, chocolate is famous for its ability to improve our brain function!
However, note that all the positive impacts it has on our bodies refer to the pure dark chocolate only with the cocoa content no less than 75%. Any other kinds of it with additives or fillings, the same as white and milk chocolate are far less effective and healthy.
How to Store It Correctly?
In a store, chocolate is kept under certain conditions to maintain fresh and good-looking. But after we buy it and bring home, it is our responsibility to make sure that the bar won’t get spoiled too soon.
Chocolate expiration can indeed become a point of concern for many people!
Since chocolate expires under improper conditions (actually, like any other product), it is essential to provide it with comfortable surroundings to extend the lifespan.
- To defer chocolate expiry, keep it in a cool and dry place. The best would be to provide the place with 65-68 F and the humidity level lower than 55 percent.
- Avoid placing a bar of choco under the direct sunlight to prevent it from melting.
- Refrigeration is strongly prohibited since it will bring the chocolate expiration date closer. Besides, the influence of cold leads to discoloration and significant loss of taste.
- Always protect the chocolate bars with extra cover (air-tight packet will be just fine). This dessert absorbs odors easily so if you don’t want to taste some garlic-flavored bonbons, better keep it sealed properly.
Sometimes, refrigeration may be acceptable, for instance, when it is necessary to help a chocolate bar not to go bad on a hot day. In such a case, wrap it tightly and put it into the airtight packet. Like that, the sweet won’t intake any external smells and will be protected from condensation.
These simple life hacks will let everyone keep their favorite sweets safe and edible for much longer!
Can Choco Be Frozen?
It can! This method is mostly used for extending the dessert’s lifespan if no other means are possible to apply.
To expose the sweet to the frost, wrap it and seal in the air-tight packet leaving refrigerated for twenty-four hours.
Once the term has gone by, remove the tank to the freezing camera.
Defrost in the fridge only to avoid ruining the sweet.
Does chocolate spoil when frozen? If everything is done correctly, there’s nothing to worry about.
Shelf Life Of Chocolate And Its Durability
Of course, it may be interesting to know the answer to the most frequent question: How long does chocolate last?
In fact, chocolate expiry date hangs upon several crucial factors. They are the kind of sweet, presence or absence of fillings and/or additives, and the way it is stored.
How long does milk chocolate last?
Solid milk chocolate lasts for approximately one year.
How long does dark chocolate last?
Solid dark choco bar can remain edible for almost two years.
White and filled choco is one of the most short-lasting since it keeps its qualities for three months at most.
Another common issue that bothers choco fans is a question: how long does chocolate last in the fridge? Refrigerated chocolate, when packed properly, will remain edible for nearly a year!
Does Chocolate Expire?
Most likely, someone may ask: can chocolate expire at all?
This sweet does indeed get worse after some time even if it was stored correctly.
How long does it take for the chocolate to go bad? Well, in general, after a year of storage you’ll start noticing certain signs of aging.
Can it spoil?
Probably, it can if we continue keeping it after it already went off.
The supporters of healthy living may wonder: does unsweetened chocolate go bad? It does and the process goes the same as with the ordinary sugar-containing counterpart, not faster, not slower.
How to Tell If Chocolate Is Bad?
When it comes to foodstuff, we must be able to define when our food becomes unconsumable and unsafe.
Expired chocolates are not an exception.
Check your bars carefully and if there’s any
- discoloration
- white scurf
- weird smell
- mold
Discard it instantly without hesitation. Anyway, the product is not edible anymore.
What Harm Can Expired Chocolate Cause?
If anyone wants to know what happens if you eat expired chocolate, be sure that no harm will be made to your health!
It don’t have such harmful effects as other spoiled food has so don’t expect to get food poisoning.
The only bad thing that will take place is that the sweet become unconsumable.
Since chocolate is not so expensive as it used to be a long time ago, we tend to be careless when storing it. So make sure you keep an eye on the sweet to know when it’s time to toss it to the garbage and consume it reasonably since sweets require certain caution!
