Valentine’s Day; Biggest day on which dogs are taken to emergency rooms because of chocolate
The Latin name for the cacao tree – the tropical plant source of all things chocolate – consists of two words packed with candy-loving scientific exuberance. Theobroma cacao. It derives from the Greek words for god (theo) and food (brosi), roughly translating to “food of the gods”.
Well, sure you say. Obviously. This is chocolate, after all. But it’s not the heavenly reputation of chocolate that I’m here to talk about. I’m instead trying to explain why the most potent chemical compound in chocolate – a plant alkaloid, slightly bitter in taste, surprisingly poisonous in some species – is called theobromine.
And while chocolate, as a whole, has a wonderfully seductive chemistry, this poison-obsessed blog will remain, well, obsessed. Today’s obsession is inspired by the fact that every Valentine’s season, in addition to stories about love and lace, newspapers run cautionary candy tales. Or as a warning issued by the Dog Help Network yesterday noted: “Valentine’s Day is the single biggest day on which dogs are taken to emergency rooms because of ingested chocolate.”
And while we can certainly debate whether the fat and sugar in candy are good for dogs, what this warning refers to is ingested theobromine.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/the-poisonous-nature-of-chocolate
