Moths a problem for choc makers

A tiny moth with a 'sweet tooth' is threatening chocolate supplies because it's snacking on too many cocoa beans.

The cocoa pod borer has been munching so many cocoa pods in Papua New Guinea that a chocolate-making company has sent people there to try and stop them.

Cocoa pods are the most important ingredient in making chocolate, so anything that affects the cocoa pods is a real problem for chocolate makers.

In 1998 pod borers caused $20m (£10.5m) of damage to Indonesia's cocoa crop.

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The moth lays its eggs inside the cocoa pods, and then its young - called larvae - feed on them when they are born.

One chocolate expert told a business newspaper that he thought the cocoa pod borer was a "real threat" to production of cocoa in Asia.