# Chocolate. Who knew..?



## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Turns out that 73% of our cocoa beans come from West Africa. The Chocolate companies are raising money to support the efforts of the Red Cross as they try to help in this Ebola epidemic. (Most of their labor force comes from Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.)
And so, the rising cost of candy bars will come back to us.
hmmm. Guess Halloween is out this year.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

I wounder if the pickers of the chocolate can contaminate the chocolate? Or is the virus killed in the processing?


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## bigdogbuc (Mar 23, 2012)

Thanks Bag Lady. Now I have no reason to live. Who cares about Obola if we can't have chocolate?


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

If those ****ers take away my Snickers or my Nut Goodies they are going to have much bigger problems to worry about than Ebola!


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## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

Great info, thanks BagLady.


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## oddapple (Dec 9, 2013)

I would not buy food or drinks of California origen. San Diego is supposed to be over 600cpm


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## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

off topic


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Does the hot sauce glow when it comes out the other end? ::rambo::


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## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

off topic


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Who injected hot sauce & radiation into the chocolate thread?


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## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

Hawaii still grows cocoa beans


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

HuntingHawk said:


> Does the hot sauce glow when it comes out the other end? ::rambo::


Would you still eat it if it did not? I wouldn't.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

And so does south America. West Africa's not the only place. The only trouble is that we really need the rainforest. In case this little fact, the rainforests supply 30,% of the clean air for the planet. Besides, there's plenty of room in central America for growing cacao.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

thepeartree said:


> And so does south America. West Africa's not the only place. The only trouble is that we really need the rainforest. In case this little fact, the rainforests supply 30,% of the clean air for the planet. Besides, there's plenty of room in central America for growing cacao.


So, if the Ebola were to kill all of the West Africans, the rainforest's would theoretically thrive and we would have cleaner air? Hmmm...


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Slippy said:


> So, if the Ebola were to kill all of the West Africans, the rainforest's would theoretically thrive and we would have cleaner air? Hmmm...


Do you think team Obama will make this an EPA mandate? Or while the military is in Liberia does he expand the mission? Or would this be the Department of Education airlifting cucumbers and condoms?


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

So if Ebola kills off the west Africans than we would lose 70% of our chocolate supply. Time to start stocking up.


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## GasholeWillie (Jul 4, 2014)

was wondering why my bag of M&M dark chocolates were trending near $4.58 a bag.


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## indie (Sep 7, 2013)

No chocolate would truly be TEOTWAWKI. 

Furthermore, being highly susceptible to cravings these days, you have _no idea_ how badly I'm dying for chocolate right.this.minute. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Camel923 said:


> I wounder if the pickers of the chocolate can contaminate the chocolate? Or is the virus killed in the processing?


This is my concern as well. I've been asking around about the life of the virus on inanimate objects/foods etc. Havent gotten an answer yet.


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## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

Inor said:


> If those ****ers take away my Snickers or my Nut Goodies they are going to have much bigger problems to worry about than Ebola!


Inor,you Diva, sounds like you need a snickers break!.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

thepeartree said:


> And so does south America. West Africa's not the only place. The only trouble is that we really need the rainforest. In case this little fact, the rainforests supply 30,% of the clean air for the planet. Besides, there's plenty of room in central America for growing cacao.


How will we know where the chocolate is coming from?
Banning imports like this doesnt seem to be on Obummers radar. (He's got all the chocolate he needs..)


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

BagLady said:


> This is my concern as well. I've been asking around about the life of the virus on inanimate objects/foods etc. Havent gotten an answer yet.


Ebola can last for weeks in blood. Less time from fluids like saliva & urine but still a week.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

HuntingHawk said:


> Ebola can last for weeks in blood. Less time from fluids like saliva & urine but still a week.


Now that's good to know. Thanks.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

That info is from a friend that works at the CDC. And is the reason it is so contagious.


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## Ice Queen (Feb 16, 2014)

We need to clear up a few terms that the news is tossing around. Infectious versus contagious. Ebola isn't hugely contagious. It doesn't travel rapidly thru a population. It is HIGHY INFECTIOUS, meaning if you get near an infected person or object only ONE virus particle can infect you compared to most illness which requires thousands of virions. It can become more contagious if the area is full of more infectious material. If your area is not full of people with Ebola, your risk is low because it won't waft in on the air. If your area is crowded with human beings who are ill you have a high risk. If your area is crowded with people who COULD have Ebola you face some risk.

We don't know how long it lives on fomites. I would assume fomites in any area that is possibly infected, are carrying virus. I would assume those tents where MSF is treating ill African people, are absolutely loaded with virions. I doubt you could find a square inch that wasn't infectious. I would also think that those tents have a high degree of aerosolized Ebola virions. I would make me feel better if they used PAPRs in there. I suspect that Duncan's room was highly contaminated as well. 

Highly contagious is when a disease spreads very rapidly from person to person with little to no contact. Ebola isn't like that, but, if you get near it, be damned careful because ONE, ONE tiny invisible string of RNA can kill you. In an environment where you do not know who could carry it, it would be wise to act like it was very contagious as well. 

I have been stuck with needles 3 times, twice with Hep B+ blood. I did not get any of those diseases probably because both Hep B's where lancet picks, and I didn't get enough virus in me to cause disease. I was vaccinated SIX times against Hep B and I do not make antibodies. If that was an Ebola stick, I would likely not have been that lucky, ONE particle can cause disease in humans. As a species, we have seldom faced a pathogen that takes only one virion to cause a fatal disease. If this spread like flu or measles, we would be in very deep doo. It does NOT spread like flu or measles, so, the public can relax for a while and keep prepping. This will be a slow spread and we will play whack a mole for a while before this gets widespread....assuming nothing changes in terms of getting it under control.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

Slippy said:


> So, if the Ebola were to kill all of the West Africans, the rainforest's would theoretically thrive and we would have cleaner air? Hmmm...


Well, that and the minor issue of destroying all the coal-fired power plants, but yeah...


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

> if this spread like flu or measles, we would be in very deep doo. It does not spread like flu or measles


YET. As far as we know.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Ice Queen said:


> We need to clear up a few terms that the news is tossing around. Infectious versus contagious. Ebola isn't hugely contagious. It doesn't travel rapidly thru a population. It is HIGHY INFECTIOUS, meaning if you get near an infected person or object only ONE virus particle can infect you compared to most illness which requires thousands of virions. It can become more contagious if the area is full of more infectious material. If your area is not full of people with Ebola, your risk is low because it won't waft in on the air. If your area is crowded with human beings who are ill you have a high risk. If your area is crowded with people who COULD have Ebola you face some risk.
> 
> We don't know how long it lives on fomites. I would assume fomites in any area that is possibly infected, are carrying virus. I would assume those tents where MSF is treating ill African people, are absolutely loaded with virions. I doubt you could find a square inch that wasn't infectious. I would also think that those tents have a high degree of aerosolized Ebola virions. I would make me feel better if they used PAPRs in there. I suspect that Duncan's room was highly contaminated as well.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. I was hoping to hear from one of our forum RN's. I do feel better having as much knowledge as possible.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

thepeartree said:


> Well, that and the minor issue of destroying all the coal-fired power plants, but yeah...


First off, I like coal fired power plants. Second, they emit clean STEAM! The scrubbers at every coal fired power plant in the US do a wonderful job of taking the pollutants out of the system via a process called FGD- Flue Gas Desulfurization, using Limestone Forced Oxidation. Here in the US, we have perfectly clean emissions and the end by-product is chemically identical to Gypsum Mineral.
Having said that I still wouldn't mind a few more nuke plants. I like energy.


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## txcdrvr (Sep 19, 2014)

more proof this is a liberal plot, by the obamas.. end chocolate imports to the us, this would be another step in the war on fat people in the usa and would make obamas wife wetter than a slip in slide.. and I thought choc. came from a town in pa.


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## Old SF Guy (Dec 15, 2013)

GasholeWillie said:


> was wondering why my bag of M&M *dark chocolates *were trending near $4.58 a bag.


That's Racist!!!!


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## ___ (Oct 15, 2014)

Old SF Guy said:


> That's Racist!!!!


sarcasm to what black people say? i hope so...


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## dannydefense (Oct 9, 2013)

___ said:


> sarcasm to what black people say? i hope so...


Not at all. It's a well known fact that dark chocolate is racist. Anti-semitic too.


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## HEckSpawn (May 14, 2021)

thepeartree said:


> And so does south America. West Africa's not the only place. The only trouble is that we really need the rainforest. In case this little fact, the rainforests supply 30,% of the clean air for the planet. Besides, there's plenty of room in central America for growing cacao.


The 3rd cleanest air in the world is sampled by NOAA down at Kumukahi Point, about 30 miles SE of Hilo. the two other cleaner places are both in Antarctica.


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