With A Zap, Scientists Create Low-Fat Chocolate

Physicists say they’ve discovered how to zap the fat out of chocolate.

The researchers, led by Rongjia Tao of Temple University, were able to remove up to 20 percent of fat by running liquid milk chocolate through an electrified sieve. And they say the chocolate tastes good, too.

Before they’re foil-wrapped bundles that make chocoholics smile, chocolate bars start out as liquid in a factory: delicious particles of cocoa solids (which give chocolate its characteristic flavor) sugar and mixed solids, suspended in melted fat and oil, mostly cocoa butter (typically, up to 40 percent by volume). The cocoa butter is essential for keeping the liquid chocolate flowing smoothly through factory pipes.