Chocolate, cocoa and sweet foods: ingredients, composition, processing, quality and storage.
Honey usually contains more sugar and calories than pure maple syrup both per 100 grams and per tablespoon. Honey is about 82 g sugar and 304 calories per 100 g; maple syrup is roughly 60–67 g and 260 calories.
Agave syrup is typically more fructose-heavy than honey. Formulas vary, but fructose often makes up most of agave's sugars; honey has a more balanced mix of fructose and glucose.
Powdered and granulated sugar are both mostly sucrose, but a cup of powdered sugar contains much less mass—about 120 g versus roughly 200 g for granulated. Powdered sugar also usually contains starch, so it is not a simple cup-for-cup replacement.
Granulated sugar is far more concentrated by weight: nearly 100 g sugar per 100 g versus roughly 60–67 g in pure maple syrup. A tablespoon tells a different story because the syrup serving weighs more.
Brown sugar is not a nutritionally different category of sweetener. Molasses changes flavor and moisture and adds trace minerals, but a teaspoon of white or brown sugar still provides about 4 grams of sugar and roughly 16 calories.
Dark chocolate usually contains more cocoa mass and less sugar, but it is not a low-calorie food. A 70–85% dark chocolate may be around 600 calories and 20–30 g sugar per 100 g, while milk chocolate is often near 530–550 calories and about 50 g sugar. Brands vary substantially.
Plain chocolate usually carries a best-quality date rather than a sudden safety deadline. If it was stored properly and the package is intact, passing that date may mean weaker flavor, texture changes, or bloom rather than automatic spoilage. Keep chocolate tightly wrapped in a cool, dry, dark, stable place; filled products need their own label instructions.
Cacao nibs are broken pieces of the cocoa kernel and retain essentially all of the bean's cocoa butter. Cocoa powder is made after cocoa mass is pressed to remove part of that fat. Nibs are therefore fattier and crunchy, while powder is more concentrated in nonfat cocoa solids and mixes more easily into recipes.
Carob is naturally much sweeter and almost fat-free; unsweetened cocoa has far more protein and fat and contains caffeine and theobromine. Both are fiber-rich by weight, but they do not taste or behave the same in recipes.
Cocoa butter is essentially 100% fat. The USDA reference contains about 59.7% saturated fat, 32.9% monounsaturated fat, and 3% polyunsaturated fat. Stearic, oleic, and palmitic acids make up most of it.
Cocoa powder does contain caffeine. The USDA unsweetened natural cocoa reference has 230 mg per 100 g, about 12 mg in a 5.4 g tablespoon. A USDA alkalized cocoa entry is much lower, illustrating how widely products can vary. Theobromine, not caffeine, is cocoa's dominant methylxanthine.
A normal cup of coffee generally provides several times more caffeine than a cocoa drink. EFSA estimates about 90 mg in 200 mL filter coffee; 5–10 g of the USDA natural cocoa reference would provide roughly 12–23 mg. Cocoa instead contains much more theobromine.