PGPR - the new chocolate

Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR), E476, is an emulsifier made in a three-step process from glycerol and fatty acids (from the castor bean).

In a 1998 study funded by Unilever, "PGPR was found to be 98% digested by rats and utilized as a source of energy superior to starch and nearly equivalent to groundnut oil." Overall, they claim, it did not "constitute a human health hazard."

PGPR is used by chocolate makers to reduce their costs of raw materials. Since 2006, companies producing commercial-grade chocolate bars, such as those made by Nestlé, made an industry-wide switch to include PGPR as an ingredient. Makers of PGPR, such as Danisco and Palsgaard, indicate PGPR can be used to replace the traditional but more expensive cocoa butter as an ingredient in chocolate.
Palsgaard's website asserts, "Cocoa butter is an expensive raw material for chocolate manufacturers. By using PALSGAARD 4150 the chocolate recipe has lower costs in terms of less cocoa butter but also gives the benefit of having less fat."

However, the 1996 study conducted by Andrew Waterhouse of UC Davis which discovered the phenols (potent antioxidants) in chocolate also revealed that these antioxidants come from cocoa butter and the stearic acid it produces.
It demonstrated that the phenols prevented LDL cholesterol from building up in arteries. Another study had subjects follow diets in which the majority of fat calories came from either chocolate or butter; only those with the butterfat diet showed an increase in LDL cholesterol.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially deemed PGPR safe for human consumption, setting the accepted daily intake from 0 to 7.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. But short-term studies on rats and chickens showed reversible liver enlargement as a result of higher doses of PGPR.
There are several campaign groups against this replacement for real chocolate butterfat. Watch out for E476 in the ingredients list.
Chocolate, anyone?

And did you know that the castor oil plant is held to be the deadliest plant in the world? Four to eight seeds will kill a man. It's where we get RICIN! The toxicity of raw castor beans is due to this presence of RICIN. Symptoms of overdosing on RICIN can include nausea, diarrhoea, tachycardia, hypo tension and seizures persisting for up to a week.Within several days there is severe dehydration, a drop in blood pressure and a decrease in urine. Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 3–5 days.
Poisoning occurs when animals, including humans, ingest broken seeds or break the seed by chewing: intact seeds may pass through the digestive tract without releasing the toxin. Toxicity varies among animal species:
four seeds will kill a rabbit,
five a sheep,
six an ox or horse,
seven a pig,
and eleven a dog.
It takes an average of 80 to kill ducks!

Musashi.