SWEET LOVE AFFAIR: IS CHOCOLATE A TASTY TREAT OF DEVILISH DESSERT?

Chocolate: The sight alone is enough to make the heart race. Combine that with a teasing aroma and the tantalizingly sweet taste that lingers on the lips and you've got a real love affair going.

The modern world's love affair with this sinfully wonderful confection dates to 1660 when Maria Theresa, daughter of the Spanish monarchy, married Louis XIV of France and took chocolate with her.

Columbus found that the cocoa beans he brought back from the West Indies could be used as currency in bartering for pieces of tin, quills filled with gold or silver and for everyday food.

More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Mayan civilization used cocoa beans as a bartering tool and at festivals to honor their gods. They also and sipped a bitter beverage made from cocoa beans, believing the drink to have special qualities that enhanced one's well-being.

Although a far cry from the chocolate of today, popularity was already on the rise. Hernando Cortez shared a cup of chocolate with Montezuma and introduced the Spanish to the wonders of this little bean.

Jesuit monks experimented with the preparation of the beans and found that sugar did wonders for the taste, and here began the production of chocolate as we know it.

Chocolate ranks as the number one gift when it comes to giving sweets to the sweet, especially on holidays such as Valentine's Day. The traditional heart shaped box has been the staple for gift giving from the kindergartner infatuated with his teacher to the romantic who hides a diamond ring in the center piece of chocolate.

Few will dispute the fact that chocolate just plain tastes good and some will even attest that they "feel" better after having consumed some type of chocolate. Considering that the average American consumes about 11 pounds of the sugary confection a year, there must be something that makes them keep coming back for more.

Chocolate contains the chemical anandamide which stimulates some nerve centers in the brain, which some theorize as causing the "sooooo good" feeling some get after eating a chocolate bar.

Women with pre-menstrual syndrome often find a reduction in mood swings thanks to the magnesium in chocolate. Chocolate also contains calcium, potassium, iron and Vitamins A, B1, C, D and E.

In addition, recent worldwide studies show that chocolate is a source of potentially beneficial antioxidants that may help fight heart disease and certain cancers.

Okay, so much for the good stuff.

"Chocolate contains a lot of empty calories," said Lisa Elfrink, food service director for Cape Girardeau Public Schools. These empty calories can add up to unwanted fat.

Although a quick fix of chocolate might make you feel better for the short term, there isn't much staying power in a candy bar and that energy you gained usually doesn't last.

Mothers who want to use the old trick, "You're allergic to chocolate so you can't have any," are probably doing a little wishful thinking in coming up with excuses why children shouldn't have chocolate. Allergy to chocolate is really uncommon. The additives included during processing are more often the allergy causing agent than chocolate itself.

While dentists may not be thrilled to see parents give chocolate to a child, the outcome may not be as bad as the effect of suckers which lay in the mouth spreading sugary cavity makers over the teeth. A 1994 Vanderbilt University study found no link between candy consumption and hyperactivity, but talk to a classroom teacher and you might get a little different theory.

So where does that leave us?

"Most foods, even chocolate, can be consumed in moderation without suffering negative consequences," said Elfrink who allows herself just one chocolate kiss a day.

For most of us, however, we tend to be a little more like Emily Goode.

"I keep a 10 pound bag of chocolate chips in the freezer," she said. That's one way to be prepared for a chocolate attack.

The first American chocolate factory opened in New England in 1765. Since those first bars were produced, chocolate has found itself everywhere from the Civil War battlefields to the hands of astronauts circling the earth.

CHOCOLATE FACTS

* Americans will buy more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate this year at a cost of $1.1 billion.

* Midwesterners and Northeasterners seem to have a greater liking for chocolate than those in the South.

* Chocolate is recognized as the most craved food in North America. Women tend to crave chocolate more often than men.

* Chocolate consists mostly of fat and sugar. The main fatty acid in cocoa butter is a saturated fat. However it does not raise the bad LDL cholesterol level.

* Dermatologists agree that chocolate neither causes nor aggravates acne.

* Food historians report that the Aztecs considered the cocoa tree a gift from the god of wisdom and knowledge. Cocoa beans were even used as currency by the Indians of Central America more than 500 years ago.

A confectionery history

1868 Richard Cadbury introduces the first Valentine's Day box of chocolates.

1880s Wunderle Candy Company creates candy corn. In 1898, Goelitz Confectionery Company began making candy corn and has made this Halloween favorite longer than any other company.

1893 William Wrigley, Jr. introduces Juicy Fruit gum and Wrigley's Spearmint gum.

1896 Tootsie Rolls debut, introduced by Leo Hirshfield of New York who named them after his daughter's nickname, "tootsie.

1900 Milton S. Hershey introduces the first Hershey milk chocolate bar.

1905 The Squirrel Brand Company of Massachusetts creates the first peanut bar.

1906 Hershey's Kisses chocolates appear in their familiar foil wraps.

1913 Goo Goo Clusters was the first bar to combine milk chocolate, caramel, marshmallow and peanuts.

1921 Chuckles, colorful, sugared jelly candies, are first made.

1922 Goldenberg's Peanut Chews are first made in Philadelphia.

1923 Mounds offers a coconut filling enrobed in chocolate.

1925 Bit-O-Honey debuts.

1926 Milk Duds are introduced.

1928 Crunchy Heath Bars appear. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, named for the man who created them, are among the most popular candy bars today.

1929 M&M Mars introduces the Snickers Bar, named for a favorite horse owned by the Mars family. It was the number-one selling candy bar in the U.S. in 1999.

1931 Tootsie Roll Pops are introduced and soon widely advertised as the lollipop that offers two candies in one. Valomilk, the creamy marshmallow center candy bar, was created by accident when a candymaker at Sifers Candy Company forgot about a batch of cooking marshmallow, and it remained runny when cooled. Combined with chocolate, it made a wonderful, gooey treat.

1933 M&M Mars debuts the 3 Musketeers Bar, originally made as a three flavor bar featuring chocolate, vanilla and strawberry nougat. In 1945, it was changed to all chocolate.

1936 The 5th Avenue Bar was originated by the man perhaps best known for his cough drops William H. Luden.

1940 M&M's Plain Chocolate Candies are introduced in response to slack chocolate sales in summer.

1949 Junior Mints debut. Smarties, small pastel candy disks, are introduced followed by the Smarties Necklace nine years later. El Bubble Bubble Gum Cigars are the first five-cent bubble gum. In the mid- 1980s, the same company began to make pink and glue bubble gum cigars to celebrate births.

1954 Marshmallow Peeps are introduced in the shape of Easter chicks. Today, more than 2 million Peeps are made each day.

1960 M&M Mars Starburst Fruit Chews are introduced, fortified with 50 percent of the daily value for Vitamin C. Blammo becomes the first sugar-free, soft gum introduced.

1960s Lemonheads are created, later inspiring the introduction of Grapeheads, Appleheads, Orangeheads and others.

1963 SweeTarts are introduced.

1974 M&M Mars Skittles bite-size candies are introduced.

1978 Hershey's Reese's Pieces bite-size candies are introduced and four years later made popular by the blockbuster movie E.T.

1980 Goelitz introduces the first American-made gummy bears and gummy worms. Formerly, these candies were imported from Europe.

1994 Blitz Power Mints are one of several strong mints introduced as the breath freshener category grows.

1996 Zingos debuts as another one of strong mint.

1998 Holopops become the first hologram lollipops introduced. The design on their etched surface appears to change as you move it.