‘Raw’ food has not been exposed to heat over 42 degrees Celsius.

 
Understand the Difference processing makes;

Raw chocolate is a type of chocolate which has been minimally processed. Born out of the Raw food movement which understands by applying heat to food, the food degrades and in doing so reduces the bio-availability of vitamins, minerals and enzymes the food can pass on to your body during digestion.

To give you an example of the benefits to you from eating ‘raw chocolate’ see the list of the Top 10 Antioxidant foods shown below. As Cacao/cocoa is processed into chocolate the bio-availability of Antioxidants is reduced, from a maximum of 95,500. On roasting cacao/cocoa loses 69,500 points on the ORAC scale, while further processing into Dark Chocolate loses a further 12,880 points.

ORAC scores for the Top 10 Antioxidants Foods (per 100 grams)

1) Raw cocoa powder 95,500
2) Raw cacao nibs 62,100
3) Roasted cocoa powder 26,000
4) Organic Goji Berries 25,300
5) Acai Berries 18,500
6) Dark Chocolate 13,120
7) Milk Chocolate 6,740
8) Prunes 5,770
9) Raisins 2,830
10) Blueberries 2,400