DOES MICHAEL PHELPS EAT CHOCOLATE?

Like all chocoholics i wondered about multiple gold medallist, swimmer, Michael Phelps' training diet and if it included chocolate. It was no easy task to track down this information but finally with a spot of luck I got it from the Sunday Times correspondent.

Michael Phelps daily intake is, believe it or not, 12,000 calories. Six times that of an average male requirement.His breakfast seems to be, as it should, his biggest and most important meal. It consisted of servings that included, porridge, three fried eggs, a five egg omelets, fried onion, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, French Toast and, here it comes three chocolate chip pancakes. He does not seem to consume any dessert for lunch or dinner.

I wont go into the recipe of the Phelps pancakes here. But no doubt, they being honest-to-goodness pancakes, will contain among the other ingredients, eggs, butter, buttermilk and probably a very liberal sprinkling of chocolate chips. A nutritionist tells that that one such pancake, wide as the inside of a plate would be around 300 to 350 calories.

All this brings to mind that the Swiss eat the most amount of chocolate in the world, nearly11kg per person per year. Wonder where Roger Federer gets his energy from? And very pleased to see that he is certainly not obese.

CHOCOLATE AT THE OLYMPICS

At what is going to be the grandest Olympics ever, Chocolate will be participating. Snickers has been appointed the Official Chocolate of the Beijing Olympics. This rich chocolate bar studded generously with peanuts will provide athletes, officials and spectators will the energy they are going to need. In Indonesia, Snickers distributed by Nirwana Lestari, will in Indonesia shy away from any publicity.

The China English Language Daily reports the some athletes have included chocolate as part of their training diet. Among them are swimmers, Australian Libby Trickett and American Katie Nott. The latter preferring a peanut-brittle bar coated with chocolate.

The Swiss Embassy will be holding a chocolate exhibition of their products during the Games. Hershey's, though not officially connected will be running an interesting and involving promotion supporting the US athletes, called"Taste of Victory".

George Bush, getting int right, send off the US Olympic team with a dinner at the White House.
For dessert the President served the "Chocolate Olympic Torch"- a dark chocolate tart with raspberries and a brown-sugar Olympic flame.

CNN reports that taxi drivers in Beijing have nicknamed the city, "Chocolate City" because of the large presence of Africans.

In the meantime chocolate consumption in China is increasing, according to conservative estimates at 8% per annum, and by 15% by other estimates. With the current percapita consumption at 100-150gm there is obviously great opportunities. In Shanghai it is one kilogram of chocolate per head per year. If the Chinese in the Eastern, affluent seaboard cities alone, eat as much chocolate as the Japanese(2.2kg) chocolatiers will have a potential of 800,000 metrics tons of chocolate per year.

That's why Barry Callebaut has set up a factory there(operational this year). That is why BT Cocoa of Indonesia have smartly networked themselves in the China chocolate market also taking advantage of the removal of import taxes.

The China chocolate market as a whole is the second biggest in the region, after Japan. China Food Industries says that the annual consumption worth CNY3billion is projected to reach CNY20billion(about USSIbillion) by 2012.

If this figure is reached it will make China the Gold Medal winner of the world chocolate race.