Taking a Break

Welcome back. I’m going to take a couple of weeks off to play and seek out new blog topics. I hope you won’t mind, and I sincerely hope you’ll miss me.

In the absence of new Retired—Now What? Blog posts, may I suggest that you review some of the older posts? I’ve released nearly 400 posts since April 2011, and the lengthy Blog Post Topics column of links on the right of the blog website can help you find possible posts of interest. (If you’re not on the website, it’s at www.retired--nowwhat.com)

Most-Viewed Blog Posts

If you’d like to sample the most-viewed posts, here are links to the top five, listed from first to fifth. Six posts are listed because the last two were tied.

Mehgan Murphy’s exceptional photographs made the Anteater Photo Addendum very special. (Photo from www.flickr.com/search/?w=26357527@N05&q=anteater)

I was surprised at the interest that Stroboscopic Training elicited, especially because it didn’t really catch on until months after the post was released. (Nike advertisement for stroboscopic eyewear.)

The interest in Fish Eyespots, which also began months after the post’s release, caused me to wonder if I should be writing more about tropical fish. (Photo from www.ibrc-bali.org/)

Like most of my research reviews, The Ecuadorian Bat mixed research reporting and personal experience, with a dose of humor. That wasn’t too difficult when writing about a bat whose tongue is roughly one and a half times longer than its body.

The blog has had writing contests, and I was thrilled when Josefina Wopatova's entry, Goal Setting--Second Winning Blog, made the most-viewed list. (Rock concert photo from multiple websites)

How rewarding that the research review Curse Tablets--a topic I found fascinating--did so well! (Photo of 5th century BC curse tablet from www.schoyencollection.com/greekbkscr.html)

Examples of Older Humorous Posts

Some of the oldest posts were very well received though the blog had yet to attain a ranking on Google that would allow it to be found by chance. Many of those posts tended to be humorous, such as these three:

In the post Time for Lawn and Garden, I described the rites of spring at our former house but somehow twisted my photos and captions. For example, this photo was labeled "Neighbors’ kids helping out in Warren’s garden."

The post Dental Check-Up Time was an abridged memoir of my dental experiences from youth to present day. Pictured here from the post is the drill used by the local dentist I visited in the Philippines. (Photo of Fuller drill from Amazon)

The pet posts were all well received, particularly those about cats. Nevertheless, my choice for the top pet post would be Time for Non-Furry Pets, at least the part about my wife’s tropical fish, Godzilla. (Photos provided by badmanstropicalfish.com/)

Noteworthy Firsts

Being a romantic, I’ve always had a special place in my heart and archive for my first Valentine’s Day post Happy Valentine’s Day!. Familiarity with the Trogg’s love song "Wild Thing" will enhance your admiration for the rose I presented to my wife.

I occasionally venture into the world of fantasy, most often knowingly. The first such post was Predawn Jogging Mystery.

Although I began including travel photos with my first blog post, the first travelogue was Time to Visit the Arecibo Observatory, which documented my introduction in 1965 to Puerto Rico and the world’s largest radar-radio astronomy telescope.

Research Reviews
 
A sea change in blog topics came with my shift from personal experiences to research reviews. While that didn’t please every regular reader, it certainly attracted a much larger audience. 

The first research review was the post Memories and Doors, which addressed how walking through doorways caused forgetting. I had questions about the student test participants and if doorways would affect cats.

Most of my blog posts are now research reviews; however, there was a gap of four months between the first and this second research review, Snail Power, in which I proposed powering your house with snails in the basement. (Photo of Giant East African snails by Roberta Zimmerman, USDA APHIS.)

Wrap Up

That’s probably more than enough. If there’s a blog post you would like to see but can’t find, email me at retirednw@gmail.com. I’ll try to find it.

Thank you for stopping by; your visits are always greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2015! -warren

One of the earliest Retired--Now What? Blog mastheads.

Dry Stuff Photo Addendum

Yes, I hear you: Wash Your Hands! , Wash Your Hands Addendum and last Friday’s Dry Your Hands! are quite enough hand hygiene. For today’s addendum, suppose I take the approach I adopted with the Short Photo Addendum, which followed Tweet?, my post about why I don’t use Twitter. As there are many short things, there are many dry things besides hands.

Dry Run: If you’re still active, before you give a major presentation, you might do a dry run. (multiple websites)

Dry Counties: Or you might be curious about where the sale of alcoholic beverages is illegal (dry-red, wet-blue and mixed-yellow). (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dr_communities_by_U.S._state#mediaviewer/File:Alcohol_control_in_the_United_States.svg)

Dry Ice: Though you wouldn’t think of adding dry ice to either alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages, you might use it to keep them cool. (multiple websites)

Dry Clean: Surely you check labels to know if clothes must be dry cleaned or not. Or both. (Read this one carefully.)

Dry Off: No doubt, you step aside when the dog that saved a ball from drowning decides to dry off. (multiple websites)

Dry Cell: You’re aware that not every cell is dry. (Meung-sur-Loire Castle dungeon photo by P. Hirsch www.frenchmoments.eu/meung-castle/)

Dry Dock: Nor is every dock dry. (www.blackberry-wallpapers.com/Landscapes/480x360/2011/0622/7565.html)

Dry Socket: When I was young, I wondered why my father called our dentist when he had problems with dry sockets. (www.fundoogeek.com/2012/12/electrical-socketplug-map-of-world.html)

Dry Gulch: In those days, cowboys referred to an ambush as a dry gulch. (a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2012/04/meanwhile-back-at-ranch-ambush-rock.html)

Dry Wit: I loved slapstick as a kid, but now I appreciate dry wit much more than other kinds of humor. (www.bikesarena.com/funny-quotes-quotes/funny-quotes-about-quotes-3/)

Of course there’s still dry…eyes, goods, out, rot, rub, wall, wipes, sherry and wine. West of Key West, you’ll find the Dry Tortugas. Oh, I left out dry gas, which you could once buy by the can or case in the automotive section of my father’s store. Does anything else come to mind?

Dry Your Hands!

In last Friday’s blog post, Wash Your Hands!, I stopped before drying them. Sorry. 

OK, you’re in a public restroom and you’ve washed your hands carefully. (Thank you.) Should you dry your hands? If you have a choice between paper towels and a power air dryer, which should you use?

Decisions, decisions--paper towel or air dryer?
(photo from todaysfacilitymanager.com/2012/03/web-exclusive-paper-towels-vs-air-dryers/)

You’ll be elated to know there’s been research on drying hands.

Yes, Dry, But How?

There are multiple reasons why you should dry your hands--things like chapping and dripping on everything. Considering hand drying from a health standpoint, the University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter summed up the consensus a few years ago, noting that drying reduces bacteria and that wet hands are more likely to transfer bacteria.

While there’s no dispute about the value of drying, earlier research differed on the method of drying that was most effective for reducing bacteria, paper towels or power air dryers. Relax, you no longer have to stand there, staring at the wall if you’re offered a choice. New research has resolved the debate. Sort of.

New Findings

In a 2013 study published last month, researchers from the U.K.’s University of Leeds compared the spread of test bacteria from paper towels, warm-air dryers and jet-air dryers.

To simulate drying of poorly washed hands, they coated hands with lactobacilli--the kind of bacteria you might find in yogurt--and collected 120 air-samples (60 test, 60 control) in close proximity and 1 meter from each of the three drying processes. Separately, they also coated hands with paint to visualize droplet dispersal.

The up-close bacterial counts from the jet-air dryer were 4.5-fold higher than those from the warm-air dryer and 27-fold higher than those from paper towels. The results at 1 meter showed the same pattern. The jet-air dryer also produced the greatest droplet dispersal in the visualization tests.

Score one for paper towels. Actually, that’s more than one. Two years earlier, the Mayo Clinic Proceedings published a literature review by collaborating researchers from Australia and China that also gave the nod to paper towels over air dryers for a trifecta: drying efficiently, removing bacteria effectively and causing less restroom contamination.

Newer Findings

But wait. In an as yet unpublished study reported in a press release last June, researchers at the University of Buffalo collected bacteria samples in 4 restrooms in 2 academic buildings. Each restroom had both a high-speed air drier and paper towel dispenser. They found six times more bacteria on paper-towel dispenser handles than on the air dryer.

Expanding beyond the hygiene, the researchers also did a life-cycle assessment of the two methods--essentially a cradle-to-grave environmental tally--and an economic comparison. They found the high-speed air dryer would produce 42% less carbon dioxide and begin costing less than paper towels after 4.5 years of use.

Wrap Up

All this for hand drying? You bet. There’s big money there, which isn’t to disparage the research, even studies with corporate sponsorship (see Research Sponsor Bias).

In 2011, MIT did a life-cycle assessment--not a hygiene assessment--comparing 4 types of power air dryers and 3 types of paper towels. The work was commissioned by the company whose high-speed dryer was found best. Another high-speed dryer company then sued, claiming incorrect data were analyzed for its system.
 

Example of hands-in high-speed
air dryer, Dyson Airblade™
(photo from multiple websites)

Whew! So where are we? Well, dry your hands after washing. Beyond that, research to date suggests that you should use paper towels if a hands-in high-speed dryer (e.g., Dyson Airblade™) isn’t available. The high-speed, hands-in type was tops in the University of Buffalo study and in both life-cycle assessments. The hands-under warm-air and high-speed dryers might do better than paper towels in a life-cycle assessment, especially if compared to an electric paper towel dispenser, but not for hygiene.

Whatever you do, be sure to wash and dry. Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Berkeley Wellness Letter article on hand washing and drying:
www.berkeleywellness.com/self-care/preventive-care/article/6-tips-smart-handwashing
University of Leeds study in Journal of Hospital Infection and article on Science Daily website:
www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701%2814%2900246-1/abstract
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141120082136.htm
Earlier report in Mayo Clinic Proceedings:
www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196%2812%2900393-X/abstract
SUNY University of Buffalo press release:
www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/06/010.html
MIT life cycle assessment:
msl.mit.edu/publications/HandDryingLCA-ExecutiveSummary.pdf
Wikipedia article on Dyson Airblade™, including controversy over MIT assessment: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Airblade

Wash Your Hands Addendum

You, of course, didn’t need last Friday’s blog post, Wash Your Hands!, to remember hand hygiene. As you realize, however, that’s not true of everyone. Today’s addendum offers a handful of signs and posters that have been used as reminders, I hope with success.

The bear stare is one of several animal posters. (www.webbertraining.com/photos/custom/IC%20Cal%202010%20P9.jpg)

Like the bear stare, there are a series of creatively designed hand posters. (multiple websites)

This should get someone’s attention. (www.quickmeme.com/The-Omnipresent-Cloon)

You can’t go wrong with zombies. (multiple websites)

Of all the employees must wash signs, this one had, well, character. (multiple websites)

This one might work, if people read that far. (www.funniestmemes.com/)

Go ahead. Add words you think might work.
(www.justbathroomsigns.com/img/lg/S/Custom-Wash-Hand-Notice-Sign-S-3117.gif)

This wasn’t a sign or poster, but it should be.
(www.someecards.com)

Wash Your Hands!

How many times have I seen someone sneeze into a hand that soon reached out to open a door or grab the office coffee pot or shake another hand? 

Washing hands with soap and
water. (multiple websites)

How many times have I seen some guy bypass a sink when exiting the public restroom?

How many times have I…oh, never mind. No, I’m not a germaphobe; I just wish people would wash their hands. Don’t you?

Welcome back. Last September researchers from the University of Arizona presented their study of how quickly and easily a virus spreads. The media went with the conference press release, but I held off sharing it with you. I thought it might incite panic. Besides, it was only a conference paper awaiting peer review for publication, which I think is still underway.

Well, I was wrong. I should have broadcast it. Look what happened: I caught a cold!

It’s my fault. No one sneezed in my face. I may have done a poor job washing produce or more likely rubbed my nose or an eye after shopping.

Did you see the movie Contagion and what’s-her-name saying people touch their face thousands of times a day? That was movie talk. I don’t know where it came from, but 16 touches an hour is often repeated, which would be 384 times a day if people stayed awake touching. An NIH study observed people in public places and counted only 3.6 times an hour. Maybe people touch more in private.

Anyway, back to the conference paper.

Virus Spread

The study was presented at the American Society for Microbiology’s 54th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in Washington DC.

For their tests, the researchers applied a tracer virus (bacteriophage MS2), which is harmless to humans, to 1 or 2 frequently touched surfaces at the beginning of the day in office buildings, hotels and a health care facility. After 2 to 8 hours, they sampled 60 to 100 surfaces that could carry the virus (e.g., light switches, door knobs, phones). Ready? Within 2 to 4 hours, 40% to 60% of the surfaces were contaminated with the virus.

Get this. In an office building, which housed 80 employees, they applied the virus to a push-plate door at the entrance. Within two hours, the virus had contaminated the break room--coffee pot, microwave, refrigerator door handle--and then spread to restrooms, offices and cubicles, reaching phones, desks and computers. By four hours, the virus was on over half of the commonly touched surfaces and on the hands of about half of the employees.

Wrap Up

You’re not going to panic, right? Those microscopic overachievers don’t do well on every surface and they don’t live forever. Even if you invite them in as I probably did, they may not make you sick and you can wash them away. Soap and water are preferred but hand sanitizers are your next best defense.

So, I won’t stop shaking people’s hands, though I know it transfers 10 to 20 times more bacteria than fist bumps. I’ll just continue to wash and do my best to avoid rubbing an eye or my itchy nose. Stay well and thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Press release and articles on study on Time and Wall Street Journal websites:
-www.icaac.org/index.php/newsroom/92-icaac-2014/newsroom/321-how-quickly-viruses-can-contaminate-buildings-and-how-to-stop-them
-time.com/3305272/viruses-spread-everywhere/
-online.wsj.com/articles/germs-at-the-office-are-often-found-on-keyboards-and-at-coffee-stations-1412032235

How many times people touch their face:
www.quora.com/Contagion/Is-it-true-that-the-average-person-touches-their-face
www.livescience.com/25086-stop-touching-yourself-flu-researchers-say.html

Berkley Wellness articles on handwashing and soap and water versus hand sanitizers:
www.berkeleywellness.com/self-care/preventive-care/article/6-tips-smart-handwashing
www.berkeleywellness.com/self-care/over-counter-products/article/6-things-know-about-hand-sanitizers

Chili Peppers Addendum

Last Friday’s blog post, Add Some Spice, reviewed potential health benefits of spicy foods, specifically chili peppers, without saying much about chili peppers. I thought I’d remedy that in today’s addendum.

Chili Peppers

I did mention that there are many, many chili peppers. They originated in the Americas, and though there are only five major cultivated species within the genus Capsicum, there are thousands of cultivars (e.g., Peruvian White, Red Savina, Yucatan White or TigerPaw-NR Habaneros) and hundreds of commonly used peppers. To add to the fun, chili peppers may have different names in different regions, and every so often someone produces a new one, cross-breeding to make it hotter, for example, than the rest.

As noted in Friday’s post, that spicy heat, which rises from none in sweet peppers to call the fire department! in hotter peppers, is caused by capsaicinoids, a group of chemicals of which capsaicin is the most common.

Examples of sweet peppers from Karl Foord (blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/ygnews/2011/08/post-15.html)

Scoville Heat Units

The Scoville test and scale have been the accepted method for categorizing chili peppers’ intensity since the test’s development in 1912. For the test, an alcohol extract of capsaicin from a defined weight of dried pepper is added to a solution of sugar in water until the majority of trained tasters can detect the heat.

The Scoville scale is based on the measured dilution and is in Scoville heat units (SHU). Peppers range from 0 SHU, for those with no capsaicin, to the hottest, which is currently over 2 million SHU; pure capsaicin is 16 million SHU.

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Given the imprecision of organoleptic testing (i.e., those that rely on human senses such as taste), there’s been a shift to more accurate and objective lab measurement with high-performance liquid chromatography. Although more expensive, HPLC can provide total heat and break out specific capsaicinoids.

Different testing labs offer one or the other, or both methods, and the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) publishes the HPLC procedure accepted by the spice industry. ASTA also has a conversion of HPLC measurements to approximate SHU ratings, though the estimates have been judged to be low by 20% to 40%.

Selected Chili Pepper Ratings

For your ranking pleasure, here are the Scoville ratings of a handful of chili peppers whose names you’ll likely recognize plus the current hottest. They represent three species of Capsicum. Wikipedia and various websites (see P.S.) have long lists of peppers with detailed information should you wish to explore.

Capsicum annuum

Banana or Yellow Wax Pepper, 0-500 SHU (photo from www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk)

Pimento or Cherry Pepper, 100-500 SHU (photo from www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk)

Jalapeño Pepper, 2,500-10,000 SHU (photo from www.cayennediane.com/BigListofPeppers/Big-List-of-peppers.html)
Note that chipotle is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño.

 

Cayenne Pepper, 30,000-50,000 SHU (photo from
www.cayennediane.com/BigListofPeppers/Big-List-of-peppers.html)

Capsicum frutescens

Tabasco Peppers, 30,000-50,000 SHU (photo from
www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk)

Capsicum chinense

Habanero Pepper, 100,000-350,000 SHU (photo from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHabanero_chile_-_flower_with_fruit_%28aka%29.jpg)

Carolina Reaper Peppers, 1,569,383-2,200,000 SHU (photo from
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACarolina_Reaper_pepper_pods.jpg)

P.S.

Background on testing and scale:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale
aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H237/
www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Scoville_scale.html
www.astaspice.org/food-safety/astas-analytical-methods-manual/

Example websites with lists of chile peppers:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Capsicum_cultivars
www.cayennediane.com/BigListofPeppers/Big-List-of-peppers.html
www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk
scovillescaleforpeppers.com/ (need to paste in browser)
www.scottrobertsweb.com/scoville-scale/ (mostly hot sauces)

Add Some Spice

Pizza Hut’s new 7-Alarm Fire™
specialty pizza has four
different peppers and a fiery
red pepper flavored crust. (from:
order.pizzahut.com/flavorofnow)

Welcome back. Have you heard about Pizza Hut’s new fare? Along with marketing gimmicks like fresh red onions instead of red onions, they’ve added new specialty pizzas and options for base sauce, crust flavor and drizzle topping. And they’ve spiced up the menu. You can now order a 7-Alarm Fire™ pizza or ask for any pizza with, say, a spicy and bold Buffalo sauce, a Fiery Red Pepper crust flavor or maybe a Honey Sriracha drizzle topping.

Coincidentally, last summer, Time magazine’s online newsletter had an article telling me to eat more spicy food. The writer, of course, didn’t know I stopped piling on jalapeños at the salad bar years ago because of heartburn. Well, I think it was heartburn; I was diagnosing from TV ads.

Anyway, the Time article said that spicy food might (1) reduce the risk for tumors, (2) improve one’s sex life and (3) help with weight loss. I figured I’d better check that out, you know, before heading to the closest Pizza Hut.

Tumor Risk

Capsaicinoids are a group of chemicals that are the active ingredient in chili peppers; capsaicin is the most common.

Some of the many, many chili peppers. (digginginthedriftless.com/2011/03/25/the-brave-new-world-of-not-so-hot-peppers/)

The Time article pointed to a recent collaborative study led by researchers from the University of California San Diego. The investigators fed capsaicin to mice that were genetically prone to developing multiple tumors in their gastrointestinal tract. The capsaicin activated a receptor (TRPV1) on cells that lined the mice intestines, triggering a reaction that reduced the risk of colorectal tumors and extended the mice lifespans by over 30 percent.

Future clinical studies still need to address a direct association between the receptor function and human colorectal cancer.

Sex Life

Here, the Time article cited a scientific review by researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada. They found certain foods show the positive effects of natural aphrodisiacs, but that further research was needed to determine doses, potential toxicities and appropriate method of delivery.

While the review was comprehensive, it was published in 2011. Given such an earthshaking topic, I was surprised the Time writer couldn’t find more recent work. I looked and sadly decided to forget this spicy benefit.

The Mayo Clinic, for example, notes that research with spicy and other foods that are thought of as natural aphrodisiacs has shown them to be largely ineffective at producing a sexual response in men or women.

Last April, the Food and Drug Administration stated, “Labeling claims for aphrodisiacs for OTC [over the counter] use are either false, misleading, or unsupported by scientific data.”

Weight Loss

The Time writer’s reliance on older research carried over to weight-loss, citing studies from 2010 and 2011. Though aphrodisiacs are a hotter topic, I suspected there would be more recent work on weight loss. I was correct; however, the little I found (see P.S.) supported earlier studies that capsaicinoids could indeed play a beneficial role in weight management.

We typically eat spicy foods in small quantities and other foods will likely have a greater effect on weight loss; but two areas of potential benefit of capsaicinoids are increased energy expenditure and reduced appetite. Long-term, randomized trials with larger numbers of participants are needed.

Wrap Up

The Time article also cited a food industry report that more consumers, especially those between 18 and 34, are opting for hot or spicy foods.

You’re aware that restaurants offering cuisines, such as those from Mexico, China, India or Thailand, have always included hot and spicy dishes, yet you may not be aware that many fast-food restaurants have lately added spicy sandwiches or the like. I’ll go out on a limb and posit that the shift in consumer demand, not health benefits, is why Pizza Hut made the move.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope I’ve spiced up your life.

P.S.

Capsaicin isn’t just added to food.
(photo from multiple websites)

Time article on spicy food: time.com/3063763/3-reasons-you-should-eat-more-spicy-food/
Tumor risk study in Journal of Clinical Investigation and press release:
www.jci.org/articles/view/72340
www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/uoc--pah072814.php
Aphrodisiac study in Food Research International, review article and later notes from Mayo Clinic and FDA:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0963996911001451
healthland.time.com/2011/04/13/ginseng-saffron-good-sex-aphrodisiacs-found-in-common-spices/
www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/sexual-health/expert-answers/natural-aphrodisiacs/faq-20058252
www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=310.528
Time-cited studies on weight loss:
healthland.time.com/2010/04/28/spicy-research-peppers-may-help-burn-calories/
healthland.time.com/2011/04/26/diet-food-red-hot-chili-peppers-may-help-curb-appetite/
Later research on weight loss in Appetite and PLOS One and summary article:
www.livestrong.com/article/421532-can-spicy-food-help-you-lose-weight/
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22634197
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666313004492
www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0067786
Time article on fast-food trends: 
business.time.com/2014/01/03/why-spicy-is-the-most-profitable-new-trend-in-food/

Chocolate Bars Addendum

Being empathetic to those who can never get enough chocolate, I thought I’d add a few notes to last Friday’s blog post, Chocolate for Health, and highlight one chapter of the chocolate story: chocolate bars. Sites linked from my P.S. below provide much more detail than most of you would ever want.

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is native to Mesoamerica and its consumption traces back thousands of years. In the 16th century, cacao made its way from Mexico to Spain where sugar was added and its popularity spread through Europe. Although numerous candy makers, such as the Baker Chocolate Co., founded in the U.S. in 1780, sold cocoa for drinking and chocolate in small pieces, chocolate bars didn’t appear until the mid-1850s. But by the first half of the 1900s, there were thousands of different chocolate bars being produced by large and small candy companies.

J.S. Fry & Sons produced the first chocolate bar around 1847. The company later merged with Cadbury, which was founded in 1824 and marketed tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. Cadbury is now under Kraft Foods. (Photo on multiple websites)

Daniel Peter, a Swiss manufacturer, is credited with producing the first milk chocolate bar, around 1875. Peter’s Chocolate is now owned by Cargill. (Photo from www.dicconbewes.com/2012/09/18/uncovering-the-first-milk-chocolate/)

The German chocolate company Stollwerck GmbH introduced the first vending machines in 1887. Though used initially to sell chocolate samples, they were soon selling chocolate bars from thousands of vending machines. (Photo of 1890 chocolate bar wrapper from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stollwerck-chocolate_-_packaging_from_1890.jpg)

The Hershey Bar, produced in 1900, has been recognized as the first chocolate bar to be both affordable and good tasting. Today, The Hershey Company is North America’s largest chocolate manufacturer with a distribution to some 60 countries. (Photo of vintage wrapper from multiple websites)

The Swiss Theodor Tobler and a cousin produced the triangular-shaped Toblerone chocolate bar around 1908. The name combined Tobler with Torrone, the Italian nougat of honey, sugar, egg whites and toasted almonds or other nuts. (Photo from www.toblerone.co.uk/history/howitbegan/1900)

Ganong Brothers Ltd., founded in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1873, developed and sold what’s considered to be the modern chocolate bar in 1910--the company was the first to wrap its chocolate bar. Another innovation was selling chocolates in heart-shaped box. (Photo of Ganong storefront in Quebec, 1934, from www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/cool/002027-2002-e.html)

P.S.

History lessons:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate#History
www.c-spot.com/atlas/historical-timeline/
thechocolategazette.com/the-history-of-chocolate/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_bar
Companies cited:
www.cadbury.co.uk/
www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/home/index.aspx
www.peterschocolate.com/
www.cargill.com/
www.stollwerck.de/en/
www.thehersheycompany.com/
www.toblerone.co.uk/
ganong.com/