Cocoa Flavanol Health Claim Approved By EU Commission

The health benefits of chocolate continue to be recognised following the EU Commission’s approval of a dossier on health claims attributed to one of its components, the flavanols. Swiss firm, Barry Callebaut which is the world’s largest chocolate manufacturer had produced a dossier of evidence supporting the claims in July 2012 which are now approved in the EU regulation (No. 851/2013). This followed a positive Scientific Opinion provided by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in July. The company are allowed to use the health claim  “cocoa flavanols help maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, which contributes to normal blood flow”. It is the first to be issued for cocoa and chocolate generally. The evidence centred around a daily intake of 200mg of cocoa flavanols which was provided by 2.5g of ACTICOA® cocoa powder or 10g ACTICOA® dark chocolate which amounts to 2 squares of chocolate. This level of intake supported the health benefit that a healthy blood circulation was helped by ingestion of the flavanols which were involved in maintaining the elasticity of blood vessels.