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See also: Cocoa Powder; Chocolate
COCOA BUTTER
Cocoa butter is the edible vegetable fat from cocoa beans, extracted from the cocoa beans during the process of making chocolate and cocoa powder. Cocoa butter has only a mild chocolate flavor and aroma.
Cocoa butter is one of the ingredients used to make real chocolate, it is gives chocolate the ability to remain solid at room temperature, yet melt easily in the mouth.
Cocoa butter is one of the most stable fats known, containing natural antioxidants that prevent rancidity and give it a storage life of 2 to 5 years. It is used for its smooth texture in foods (including chocolate) and in cosmetics and soaps.
There were 1,040 U.S. manufacturing establishments producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2001. These establishments employed 45,913 people and shipped $12 billion worth of goods that year.
California led the nation in the number of chocolate and cocoa manufacturing establishments (with 116) followed by Pennsylvania (with 107).
US Census Bureau, October, 2003
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