As with cocoa, we have first to know the composition before we can calculate the food value. The relative proportions of nib, butter and sugar, vary considerably in ordinary chocolate, so that it is difficult to give an average composition: there are sticks of eating chocolate which contain as little as 24 per cent. of cacao butter, whilst chocolate used for covering contains about 36 per cent. of butter. As modern high-class eating chocolate contains about 31 per cent. of butter, we will take this for purposes of calculation: AVERAGE COMPOSITION AND FUEL VALUE OF ENGLISH EATING CHOCOLATE. _Composition_ _Energy-giving power_ _Calories per lb._ Cacao Butter 31.4 = 1,327 Protein (total nitrogen 0.78%) 4.1 = 76 Cacao Starch 2.3 } = 162 Other Digestible Carbohydrates, etc. 6.4 } Stimulants { Theobromine 0.3 { Caffein 0.1 Mineral Matter 1.2 Crude Fibre 0.9 Moisture 1.0 Sugar 52.3 = 973 ----- ----- 100.0 2,538 In Snyder's _Human Foods_ (1916) the official analyses of 163 common foods are given. They include practically everything that human beings eat, and only three are greater than chocolate in energy-giving power. The result (2,538 calories per lb.) which we obtain by calculation is lower than the figure (2,768 calories per lb.) for chocolate given by Sherman in his book on _Food and Nutrition_ (1918). Probably his figure is for unsweetened chocolate. The table below shows the energy-giving value of cocoa and chocolate compared with well-known foodstuffs. The figures (save for "eating" chocolate) are taken from Sherman's book, and are calculated from the analyses given in Bulletin 28 of the United States Department of Agriculture: FUEL VALUE OF FOODSTUFFS. _Foodstuff as _Calories Purchased._ per lb._ Cabbage 121 Cod Fish 209 Apples 214 Potatoes 302 Milk 314 Eggs 594 Beef Steak 960 Bread (average white) 1,180 Oatmeal 1,811 Sugar 1,815 Cocoa 2,258 Eating Chocolate 2,538 [Illustration: PACKING CHOCOLATES AT BOURNVILLE.] _Food Value of Milk Chocolate._