THE NATURAL COCOA STORY REVEALED BY PROFESSOR ADDAI

The Staff of the Spectator decided as the Beautiful Brain of the Week, the man whose
research finding has turned the fortunes of the cocoa industry. It has given to the Cocoa
Processing Company at Tema, a new product which is reportedly making waves in
revenue inflows. In the private sector, his discovery has spawned new factories whose
main, and, perhaps only line of production is re-bagging of natural cocoa powder.
When we caught up with Professor Frederick Kwaku Addai, of the Anatomy Department
of the Ghana Medical School, we noticed that he looked rather young for his age; and he
himself was to startle us later by revealing that since he was born, he has never suffered a
cavity problem, let alone have a single tooth extracted (he visits a dentist regularly). But
it was not the concern for his health that sent us to him: we were there to talk about
natural cocoa powder. What does Anatomy have to do with cocoa? What was the
genesis?

Professor Addai revealed: Its a long story, taking us almost 14 years back. Apart from
teaching we also do research. As a research scientist, I started doing some work on
chewing sticks. I was in the UK in 1991 on a kind of sabbatical and I saw an
advertisement that said that if you chewed sugar-free-gum after you have eaten, you
protect your teeth. There is a scientific basis for that, and I knew it. As a natural scientist,
it just struck me that it is possible that benefits of stick chewing handed down by our
fore-fathers could include neutralization of the (plaque) acids produced after meals.
So I noted it and when I returned to Ghana, I started to study this. And I was fortunate
that I got one of the finest dentists in Ghana, Dr. Kwesi Nuamah to help. We jointly
wrote up a proposal that led to our studying chewing sticks. Out of that work we actually
gave public presentations and we produced a booklet that has been adopted by the
Ministry of Health for education on dental hygiene in the basic schools. The title is
What you need to know about stick chewing and good oral hygiene.

Page

As part of that study, we were using foods that could cause tooth decay. Using a
standard procedure which is 15% glucose solution, we did tests on red-red (fried
plantain and beans), kenkey and fish etc. The result was that when you eat these foods,
your teeth will be healthy. So we thought may be chocolate will give us a food that will
produce decay of teeth. The bulk substance in chocolate that makes it sweet: is sugar, and
sugar usually is what makes foods damaging to the teeth, particularly if it sticks to your
teeth. We were using volunteer medical students so they knew what we were doing.
When they ate the chocolate, instead of showing that the teeth would be damaged, it was
rather protecting their teeth. That is what got me into pursuing what I like to call the
cocoa trail; i.e. researching to find what is in cocoa. My research question was simple:
Why is it that chocolate contains sugar and yet the sugar is not exhibiting the effect that
we know sugar should have on teeth?

Following a ten year trail, I have found, and the result has been corroborated by other
independent researchers in many parts of the world, that if you eat small bits of
chocolate, may be the 100gram type, as desert after meals, you are doing so much good
to your teeth; which is comparable to probably just actually brushing your teeth.
The answer to my research question is that it means that there are nutrients in cocoa that
prevent tooth decay. Some of the early research showed that cocoa contains anti-bacterial
agents. Some work has been done else where particularly in Japan that showed that cocoa
contains alkaloids which can kill the bacteria that are in our mouths and responsible for
tooth decay.
So I thought: in that case if you could take out the extra calorific value that sugar gives,
then it means you will have a very good product. I bumped into research that had been
carried out by a Professor of Medicine in Boston University, USA, who studied the
Khuna Amerindian people who live on an Island off the coast of Panama. The Professors
work found that these people dont have stroke, they grow to very old age, they eat a lot
of salt but they dont have hypertension, they dont have diabetes. That was strange. His
work then showed that these people actually drink pure natural cocoa at least three to five
times everyday.
I thought about Ghana and our cocoa. My research showed that in Ghana, we have bred
a variety that contains a lot more cocoa butter, which meant that we had to have a way of
extracting the fat from the cocoa bean. Fortunately, that is precisely what Cocoa
Processing Company (CPC) at Tema does. The product obtained after extraction of
cocoa butter is cocoa cake, which is milled to produce cocoa powder. When the natural
powder is taken regularly, it gives many health benefits.
Indeed the actual original name for cocoa is kakawa which is an ancient Mayan word
meaning divine food. It was actually thought to be God food or food for the gods
Professor Frederick Kwaku Addai was born at Buoyem, a village near Techiman in the
Brong Ahafo region. He schooled at Techiman Secondary School up to Upper Six and
proceeded to the University of Ghana where he read Zoology.
When I finished, the then head of department of Zoology, Prof Coker, told me that the
head of Department of Anatomy at Korle Bu was looking for an enterprising research
scientist to join them. In Zoology, we also do dissections an apparently my professor
liked my dissections and he thought that from what he had seen of my dissections, I
would be a good anatomist. Thats how I found myself here

Page

Prof Addai, one-time honorary national President of the Ghana Science Association, feels
strongly about some things in the country. For instance, he feels that as a people, we
havent taken the indigenous things that we have inherited from our forefathers to look at

Two years later he proceeded to the UK where, at the Leicester University, he read for a
PhD in Anatomy. Back from the U.K., Dr Addai worked hard, doing a lot of work on the
placenta to the point where he was known as The Placenta Man.

the scientific basis so that we can upgrade them to the level where they would be
acceptable. Rather, we tend to consider them as primitive.
He gives the example of the chewing stick. When I was doing a research here in 1994
very few of the students volunteered to chew stick. They considered it nasty and so forth.
From the work that we did, we found that if you use chewing stick and do it well, it is
better than any tooth cleansing devise anywhere. Because it gives you all the benefits
that you can get from brushing with plastic and paste, and more. I take the example of
my own grandfather. He chewed stick and taught me how to chew stick. When he died we estimated that he died at the age of 88 - he had lost only one tooth. Take myself. At
my age, 49, I havent lost a single tooth. I havent got any cavity or any problem with my
teeth whatsoever. I chew stick regularly in addition to using toothbrush and paste.
But Prof Addai may have realized the problem packaging. My other dream, ultimately,
is to package chewing sticks in such a way that anybody can put them in their pocket
small-sized sticks that can clean the teeth, one at a time; a kind of match box size of
chewing sticks that anybody can carry and chew as and when necessary. Isnt it a shame
that we are importing toothpick!
The Prof also thinks that given the health benefits of cocoa, every restaurant should have
chocolate particularly our Golden Tree brand on offer as an after meals snack. The cocoa
in it will also help in digestion of the meal.
The professor is no fool. After so many people and companies have enriched themselves
with the use of his research findings, he himself is now setting up his own company to
produce the natural cocoa powder. Ultimately he will export.
Prof Addais better half is Cecilia, a batik and tie & dye artist, with whom he has four
children.

Page

The Weekly Spectator Newspaper Columnists feature article, 2008.