Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
cocoa powder
versus
molasses
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in cocoa powder and molasses:
Both molasses and cocoa powder are high in calories. Molass has 27% more calories than cocoa powder - molass has 290 calories per 100 grams and cocoa powder has 228 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, cocoa powder is heavier in protein, much lighter in carbs and much heavier in fat compared to molasses per calorie. Cocoa powder has a macronutrient ratio of 18:53:29 and for molasses, 0:100:0 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| Cocoa Powder | Molasses | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 18% | ~ |
| Carbohydrates | 53% | 100% |
| Fat | 29% | ~ |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Both molasses and cocoa powder are high in carbohydrates. Molass has 29% more carbohydrates than cocoa powder - molass has 74.7g of total carbs per 100 grams and cocoa powder has 57.9g of carbohydrates.
Cocoa powder is an excellent source of dietary fiber and it has more dietary fiber than molass - cocoa powder has 37g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and molass does not contain significant amounts.
Molass is high in sugar and cocoa powder has 98% less sugar than molass - molass has 74.7g of sugar per 100 grams and cocoa powder has 1.8g of sugar.
Cocoa powder is an excellent source of protein and it has more protein than molass - cocoa powder has 19.6g of protein per 100 grams and molass does not contain significant amounts.
Cocoa powder is high in saturated fat and molass has 100% less saturated fat than cocoa powder - molass has 0.02g of saturated fat per 100 grams and cocoa powder has 8.1g of saturated fat.
Cocoa powder and molasses contain similar amounts of Vitamin E - cocoa powder has 0.1mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and molass does not contain significant amounts.
Cocoa powder and molasses contain similar amounts of Vitamin K - cocoa powder has 2.5ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and molass does not contain significant amounts.
Cocoa powder has more riboflavin, niacin and folate, however, molass contains more pantothenic acid and Vitamin B6. Both cocoa powder and molasses contain significant amounts of thiamin.
| Cocoa Powder | Molasses | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 0.078 MG | 0.041 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.241 MG | 0.002 MG |
| Niacin | 2.185 MG | 0.93 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.254 MG | 0.804 MG |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.118 MG | 0.67 MG |
| Folate | 32 UG | ~ |
Both molasses and cocoa powder are high in calcium. Molass has 60% more calcium than cocoa powder - molass has 205mg of calcium per 100 grams and cocoa powder has 128mg of calcium.
Both molasses and cocoa powder are high in iron. Cocoa powder has 194% more iron than molass - molass has 4.7mg of iron per 100 grams and cocoa powder has 13.9mg of iron.
Both molasses and cocoa powder are high in potassium. Cocoa powder has 53% more potassium than - molass has 1464mg of potassium per 100 grams and cocoa powder has 1524mg of potassium.
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, cocoa powder has more linoleic acid than molass per 100 grams.
| Cocoa Powder | Molasses | |
|---|---|---|
| linoleic acid | 0.44 G | 0.05 G |
| Total | 0.44 G | 0.05 G |
The comparison below is by common portions, e.g. cups, packages. You can also see a more concrete comparison by weight at equal weight (by grams) comparison.
Note: The specific food items compared are: Cocoa Powder (Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened) and Molasses (Molasses) .
Cocoa Powder g
()
|
Daily Values (%) |
Molasses g
()
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KCAL % |
|
5% | calories | 5% |
|
KCAL % | |
| G % |
|
5% | carbohydrates | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G % |
|
5% | dietary fiber | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G | 5% | sugar | 5% | G | |||
| G % |
|
5% | total fat | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G % |
|
5% | saturated fat | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G | 5% | monounsaturated fat | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | polyunsaturated fat | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | trans fat | 5% | G | |||
| MG | 5% | cholesterol | 5% | MG | |||
| MG % |
|
5% | sodium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| 5% | Vitamins and Minerals | 5% | |||||
| UG % |
|
5% | Vitamin A | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | Vitamin C | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| IU % |
|
5% | Vitamin D | 5% |
|
IU % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | calcium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | iron | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | magnesium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | potassium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | thiamin (Vit B1) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | riboflavin (Vit B2) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | niacin (Vit B3) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | Vitamin B6 | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | pantothenic acid (Vit B5) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | folate (Vit B9) | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | Vitamin B12 | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | Vitamin E | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | Vitamin K | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| G % |
|
5% | protein | 5% |
|
G % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | biotin (Vit B7) | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | choline | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | chlorine | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | chromium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | copper | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | fluoride | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | iodine | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | manganese | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | molybdenum | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | phosphorus | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | selenium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | zinc | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| G | 5% | Water | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | Starch | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | Alcohol | 5% | G | |||