Can I eat expired chocolate?

Chocolate represents love and romance, so on important holidays or commemorative days, men will buy some chocolates for their girlfriends to express their love. Generally speaking, chocolate will not expire, but special circumstances cannot be ruled out. For example, if chocolate is left at home for a long time and is not eaten, should it be thrown away or continue to be eaten?

Chocolate can be divided into two categories: one is pure chocolate, and the other is compound chocolate made with cocoa butter substitutes (including refined oils, vegetable oils, etc.) instead of cocoa butter. If chocolate is stored for too long, just like oil becomes rancid, it will cause the peroxide value to increase. The peroxide value is an indicator that reflects the degree of oxidation of fats and oils in food. Once it exceeds the standard, it will directly affect the quality of the food. If this happens, it often requires professional instruments and equipment to detect it, and it is difficult for ordinary people to judge from the appearance. Eating chocolate with excessive peroxide value can cause great harm to the human body, such as causing gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea and liver damage.

There is another common situation: some chocolates, although not expired, have white frost on the surface, which is mostly caused by improper storage. If the storage environment is humid, the sugar in the chocolate will be easily dissolved by the moisture on the surface, and sugar crystals will be left after the moisture evaporates. Even if the chocolate is sealed, moisture will still seep in through the folds or corners of the outer packaging, covering its surface with a thin layer of grayish-white icing. In addition, the cocoa butter crystals will dissolve and penetrate into the surface of the chocolate and crystallize again, causing the chocolate to frost. Chocolate with frosting on the surface can still be eaten. Although it will lose its original mellow aroma and taste, it is not harmful to the human body.

No matter what kind of food it is, as long as it is expired, don't eat it anymore, because food after the shelf life may be spoiled. If you eat spoiled food, it will cause harm to your body, and the same is true for chocolate. Chocolate has a relatively high calorie content, so women who want to lose weight are better off eating less or no chocolate to avoid fat accumulation in the body.