# We're running out of chocolate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 15, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165 "2011-07-15T19:48:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ejay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ejay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ejay)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/1 "2011-07-15T19:48:53Z")
Forget the debt ceiling. This is SERIOUS! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/2 "2011-07-15T22:17:39Z")
> [@ejay](#): > > Forget the debt ceiling. This is SERIOUS! Above refers to [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3005/whatever-happened-to-the-paperless-office) on the paperless office. And, yeah, if we’re running out of chocolate, why is this the first I’ve heard of it? ---
**Author:** ![all1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@all1966](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/all1966)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/3 "2011-07-15T22:39:43Z")
I don’t know if we’re running OUT of chocolate, but I do know it’s getting more expensive - we’ve taken to hoarding bags of Hershey’s Dark Choco Kisses everytime they go on sale!! ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/4 "2011-07-16T01:09:10Z")
Can’t we just grow more? Or is this like that plague that’s going to wipe out the bananas? ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/5 "2011-07-17T22:36:53Z")
> [@all1966](#): > > I don’t know if we’re running OUT of chocolate, but I do know it’s getting more expensive - we’ve taken to hoarding bags of Hershey’s Dark Choco Kisses everytime they go on sale!! Is that even still chocolate? Or does it use a cocoa butter substitute now? ---
**Author:** ![Z.R.Test](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a5b964/32.png) [@Z.R.Test](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Z.R.Test)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/6 "2011-07-18T18:06:57Z")
Forget chocolate, we’re running out of TEQUILA?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/7 "2011-07-19T16:18:33Z")
> [@BrightNShiny](#): > > Is that even still chocolate? Or does it use a cocoa butter substitute now? More like cocoa **Bitter** subsitiute! ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/8 "2011-07-20T14:35:01Z")
My understanding is that the cocoa is mainly grown in africa with slave labour, especially in the Ivory Coast. Slave labour is no longer used (supposedly, but it probably happens), so that ratcheted up the price, and then unrest in the Ivory Coast became a problem. However, it’s still going to get more expensive, because cocoa is apparently a very low profit crop for the farmer, so the farmers are switching to more profitable plants. ---
**Author:** ![Madman2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Madman2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madman2001)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/9 "2011-07-21T04:56:06Z")
Cecil: I am surprised, for someone as sharp as you are, that you continue to harp on the “we’re running out of . . .” meme. Surely if nothing else, centuries of civilization have shown that such Chicken Little scenarios don’t come to pass unless some sort of disruptive force, such as government fiat, is in place. I’m sure that we will find that to be the case with chocolate, because as the supply dries up (if it dries up), the price will rise which will encourage more supplies (e.g. cacao plantings) or substitutions (although there is little substitute in my mind for good dark chocolate candy). Enough with the "running out of . . . " already. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/11 "2011-07-21T18:51:20Z")
Sylphium. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/12 "2011-08-03T01:45:25Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Can’t we just grow more? Or is this like that plague that’s going to wipe out the bananas? some information on [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com): [6 Important Things You Didn't Know We're Running Out Of | Cracked.com](http://www.cracked.com/article_19048_6-important-things-you-didnt-know-were-running-out-of.html) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/13 "2011-08-03T01:51:29Z")
[http://news.discovery.com/earth/chocolate-supply-threatened-by-cocoa-crisis.html](http://news.discovery.com/earth/chocolate-supply-threatened-by-cocoa-crisis.html) ---
**Author:** ![shel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@shel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shel)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/14 "2011-08-04T00:22:18Z")
OMG! i’m running out of clean underwear! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/15 "2011-08-04T00:36:25Z")
I think we’re running out of vanilla, too. We recently bought a 12-pack of yogurt, which comes in assorted flavors, and for the first time there was no vanilla. True natural vanilla has always been one of the most expensive ingredients, but I suppose recent harvests have been especially limited. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/16 "2011-08-04T01:10:46Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I think we’re running out of vanilla, too. We recently bought a 12-pack of yogurt, which comes in assorted flavors, and for the first time there was no vanilla. True natural vanilla has always been one of the most expensive ingredients, but I suppose recent harvests have been especially limited. The vanilla train long ago left the station. The entire world production of natural vanilla only accounts for 15% of vanilla flavoring sold. Most vanilla is synthetically produced via chemical processes that are too horrifying to contemplate. (Seriously, you don’t want to be thinking about things like conversion of the carboxylic acid into a thioester with acetyl-CoA, dimethylation of catechol followed by selective mono-demethylation, and hydroxylation of phenol using hydrogen peroxide when you’re eating a Nilla Wafer.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/17 "2011-08-04T03:10:52Z")
The process doesn’t matter, just the end result. Which is vanillin, the same chemical that accounts for the bulk of natural vanilla flavor. Now, granted, the natural stuff has a bunch of other chemicals, too, which add their own subtle flavors, so the artificial vanillin is inferior in that regard. But it’s not like it’s poisonous. If you really want to worry yourself, just remember that both the natural and artificial vanilla is extracted by dissolving it in a known toxin, and that they don’t even bother to try removing that toxin before they bottle it up and sell it. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/18 "2011-08-04T03:52:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If you really want to worry yourself, just remember that both the natural and artificial vanilla is extracted by dissolving it in a known toxin, and that they don’t even bother to try removing that toxin before they bottle it up and sell it. You mean alcohol? The fiends! 😛 Of course, vanilla can also be extracted in glycerin if you must avoid alcohol for some reason. And before you even do your liquid extractions, you can pack the beans in sugar for a while and get flavor that way. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/19 "2011-08-04T06:25:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If you really want to worry yourself, just remember that both the natural and artificial vanilla is extracted by dissolving it in a known toxin, and that they don’t even bother to try removing that toxin before they bottle it up and sell it. That’s right, they are both poisoned. But I spent the last few years building up an immunity to alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/20 "2011-08-05T05:39:27Z")
Dammit **Little Nemo** I came in here to say that!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165/21 "2011-08-05T06:26:09Z")
Inconceivable! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-chocolate/589165.md?page=2)