New Heat-Resistant Chocolate Developed

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new chocolate that won’t melt in 90-degree temperatures has been developed in the high-technology kitchens of the Columbus-based Battelle Memorial Institute, a spokesman said.

Food technologists at Battelle’s laboratory in Geneva, are licensing rights to the new chocolate formulation, said laboratory spokesman Bernard L. Vollerin.

“Chocolate should melt in your mouth at approximately 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) but it should not melt or become fluid at outside temperatures at the same level,” he said.

The development would be a boon to candy distributors, who cannot deliver chocolate during warm weather without expensive refrigerated trucks, and it could keep chocolate sales steady through the summertime and in hot-weather areas.

Vollerin said consumers should not notice any difference in appearance or taste.

There’s no secret ingredient other than “some traces of natural compounds,” Vollerin said. “It’s the way we put them in. That’s the secret.”