Healthy chocolate 健康的巧克力

媒体英语会带大家一起学习 BBC 撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

Might chocolate become a 'health food'?

英国华威大学（University of Warwick）科学家员找到一种方法，可以把巧克力的脂肪含量减少一半但“口感”不变。

BBC记者 Jason Palmer报道：

Here's the problem with chocolate - what makes it velvety and smooth in the mouth is exactly what ends up elsewhere - fat.

Low-fat versions disappoint because it's difficult to replace the tiny globules of fat with anything else that disperses within the chocolate and maintains its texture.

The trick, it seems, is to use agar - a widely available gelling agent. Thoroughly blended bits of it, the researchers say, act as tiny sponges that soak up any liquid - fruit juice, plain water, even alcohol.

Stefan Bon, who led the research, said that the method opens up whole new markets for chocolate, and that additives such as fruit juice could further increase chocolate's health credentials.

Stefan Bon:
"It would both lower fat content and sugar content, so for people who have a craving and want to just down a bar of 200g, you take half the amount of fat in, so it's great."

But for the less health-conscious, students in the group have made a chocolate bar containing four shots of vodka.