Barry Callebaut Gets Cocoa Health Claim

Barry Callebaut (Zurich, Switzerland) has earned a cocoa health claim in Europe for cocoa flavanols and healthy blood flow. The company says its cocoa health claim is the first such claim in the world.

On September 3, the European Commission approved the following health claim for cocoa flavanols: “cocoa flavanols help maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, which contributes to normal blood flow.”

Because of a proprietary processing method, Barry Callebaut can retain as much as 80% of cocoa’s natural flavanols-beneficial compounds which often degrade during high-heat processing of cocoa and chocolate. The processing method is used in the company’s ACTICOA line of cocoa flavanol ingredients, and it was integral to achieving the European health claim. Cocoa flavanols have shown blood flow support in numerous studies, and with numerous suppliers’ flavanols, but the health claim is restricted to Barry Callebaut ingredients for a period of five years.

The cocoa health claim is available for servings of 200 mg of cocoa flavanols, a dose that is achievable with 2.5 g of ACTICOA powder or 10 g of ACTICOA dark chocolate. For now, the claim is restricted to beverages (made with cocoa powder) and dark chocolate.