chocolate

In an effort to save money and better serve their brand image, some major companies are breaking from third-party certifiers, such as FairTrade and the Rainforest Alliance, and developing their own schemes for certifying which products meet standards of sustainability and ethics, reports Reuters. 

The world's leading grower of cocoa, Ivory Coast is confronting the mounting problem of deforestation by evicting tens of thousands of illegal cocoa farmers from its eight national parks, five nature reserves and 231 forest preserves, says Reuters. The eviction campaign is one of the nation's last chances to save its dwindling virgin forests, but could mean a large decline in production of its major cash crop, which is the source of chocolate.

A small-scale study showed "an antioxidant in chocolate appears to improve some memory skills that people lose with age," says the New York Times.

The ebola outbreak in western Africa could disrupt the cocoa harvest in two of the world's largest growers of the crop that yields chocolate and affect prices, says Politico.