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Chocolate on track to be extinct in 40 years, experts say

For chocolate lovers, there’s simply no substitute. Unfortunately, the future of the one and only source of that delicious brown concoction, the cocoa bean, is in danger. Thankfully, scientists are working to avoid a world, in our own lifetime, in which chocolate goes extinct. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, cacao plants are expected to go extinct by 2050 due to globally rising temperatures and drier weather patterns in the region the plants are grown. Cacao plants already grow in a precarious part of the planet. They only succeed in a narrow strip of rainforested land, found about 20 degrees north and south of the equator. Temperatures here stay relatively constant, no matter the season. More than half of the world’s chocolate now comes from just two countries — Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. But the temperatures in these countries are projected to rise nearly 4º Fahrenheit by 2050…

Your favorite candy bars will have less calories by 2022

Candy companies are responding to consumer cries for healthier foods and smaller portion sizes. More than a dozen candy companies including Mars, Nestle, Ferrara, Lindt & Sprungli and Ferrero Rocher, promised the Partnership for a Healthier America, a foundation chaired by former first lady Michelle Obama, to reduce the size of 50 percent of their products to less than 200 calories by 2022, reported The Washington Post. As part of the initiative, the companies also agreed to include front-of-package nutrition information for no less than 90 percent of their products. “It’s a big commitment, and a big shift,” John Downs, chief executive of the National Confectioners Association told The Washington Post. But, he added, “obviously there’s an important and ongoing conversation around sugar in the U.S., and around the world … and our industry has been discussing how we can be a productive part of that conversation.” About 30 percent of American candies have already…