I find it interesting that the US and German Army issued chocolate as their "power bar". I experimented three times myself with a 600 calorie, 3.5 oz. German chocolate bar. I consumed one every time I was exhausted and was surprised to have a good 3 hours of extra energy and focus for 2 out of 3 sittings. It was more potent than caffeine (12 oz. of coffee)and lasted longer. Anybody find this kind of use for chocolate? "Colonel Logan had four requirements for the D ration Bar. The bar must: Weigh 4 ounces Be high in food energy value Be able to withstand high temperatures Taste "a little better than a boiled potato" "Colonel Logan had specified that the D ration taste only a bit better than "a boiled potato", believing that if the chocolate bar tasted good, troops would eat them casually instead of waiting until they needed them for an emergency meal. Unfortunately, the Hershey chemists may have erred too much on the side of unpalatability; the D ration was almost universally detested for its bitter taste by U.S. troops, and was often discarded instead of consumed when issued.[1] Troops called the D ration "Hitler's Secret Weapon" for its effect on soldiers' intestinal tracts.[1] It could not be eaten at all by soldiers with poor dentition, and even those with good dental work often found it necessary to first shave slices off the bar with a knife before consuming." United States military chocolate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I would not call it an "emergency" ration, but our football coach would have every player consume a Hershey's choclate bar fight before each game, as we were going out to warm up. His theory was that it gave us a good boost of calories for the game. Can't vouch for it's effectiveness per se, but we did win nearly all of our games.
Veteran "Chocolate Pilot" honored for Berlin Airlift candy drops for WWII children "It's been 60 years since the children of Europe received Hershey's chocolate candy bars from American soldiers during WWII. For some of them, it was the only chocolate they were able to taste during the war and the only semblance of a dessert. For the 60-year anniversary and just in time for Memorial Day weekend celebrations, retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen, better known as "The Chocolate Pilot," "The Candy Bomber" and "Uncle Wiggly Wings" was honored during ceremonies on both U.S. and German soils. Pictured at right, Halvorsen is joined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, second from left, and Mike Rhodes, acting director of administration and management, during a corridor dedication ceremony for the Department of Defense Humanitarian Relief Efforts at Home and Abroad on Tuesday at the Pentagon. Halvorsen earned his nicknames for the small candy-laden parachutes he dropped from his aircraft to children during the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949." Veteran "Chocolate Pilot" honored for Berlin Airlift candy drops for WWII children and.... WWII-Era Exploding Chocolate Bar WWII-Era Exploding Chocolate Bar - Eat Me Daily
Very interesting. The packaging says to consume it slowly over half an hour, I wonder- is it to aid absorption of all the fats? I'm no nutritionalist. I have much less success with concentrated sugar. I get drowsy after forty minutes from eating 600 calories worth of gummy bears. I remember reading an account of soldiers filling up their canteens with a 50 50 mix of sugar and water for energy.
Hmm..Interesting. I'm sure it had a bit of effectiveness, but I'm sure it also was used psychologically as well.
In the British Army, when we first went on active service, we were issued with a bar of "Emergency Ration" chocolate sealed in a tin measuring about 2"x 4". When the war finished in Italy in May 1945 a few of us decided it was time to open the bars up to check the contents. The chocolate inside was foul.... rock solid, turning white on the outside and I shudder to think what effect it would have had on our digestion if we had been obliged to actually eat it in the field. Just thought you ought to know Ron
Wow, that's extremely interesting, Ron. Did anyone you know actually consume the chocolate, or were you too disgusted to try it? I'd love to hear how it tasted, and what the side effects of it were. I guess it really was a last resort food, haha.
I have eaten chocolate which has a white covering. I read somewhere it is a natural thing for chocolate and not to be confused with mold.Old chocolate can have a very bitter,musty taste but if sealed it should be edible if you can get it past your taste buds. Is it correct that if you ate the chocolate without being given an order/ having good reason for doing so you would end up on a charge?
Wolfy & RHS It was our EMERGENCY ration, a fate worse than death faced anyone who ate it without a.Permission or b. Being in a State of Emergency
Chocolates much like Honey-will "white-up" and they are good virtually forever. Case in point was when some Scientsts found some honey in a burial tomb of some Egyption royalty-and they did a test on the white honey they found-including warming it up-and to their amazement-the honey turned back into its natural state and was still edible. Maybe Gordon can confirm this story? but the scientists said that the honey they found was over 2,000 years old. As for Chocolates, I have had my fair share of it over the years and I have been told that it helpskeep the Arteries clean or somewhat clean-of fatty deposites. I firmy believe that because I have been tested many times over the years-and my arteries are still perfectly clean-even though I have over the years-eaten mostly so-called "bad foods" mostly fried foods-and never not once experianced anykind of health problem from those bad foods-with the exception of weight gain (now all back off) but the only thing I can attribute that to-is the vast amounts of Chocolates I have consumed over the many years.
There is actually some truth to that for dark chocolate but not milk chocolate. A quick search found this, which is my understanding of the matter. Wouldn't stake my license on it, but it is generally accepted in most circles. Back to the original question, I've never researched this but chocolate as an emergency ration makes a lot of sense, especially 70 years ago. If I am recalling this correctly, Shackelton and others were using it in their explorations even earlier. Calories per unit volume/mass are pretty high, containing both simple carbohydrates and fats. Also caffeine and other methylxanthines provide mild stimulant effects. Containing tyramine and other mono-amines it also provides a little bit of that "feel good" sensation, which can't be all bad in a survival situation.
