FDBusiness.com

The EU Commission has approved Barry Callebaut’s health claim submission on cocoa flavanols, following the positive Scientific Opinion issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in July 2012. Barry Callebaut received the right to use the health claim that “cocoa flavanols help maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, which contributes to normal blood flow” – the first in the cocoa and chocolate industry. Barry Callebaut was able to provide evidence that the daily intake of 200 mg of cocoa flavanols (provided by 2.5 g ACTICOA® cocoa powder or 10 g ACTICOA® dark chocolate) supports a healthy blood circulation by helping to maintain the elasticity of the blood vessels.

Barry Callebaut now has the proprietary right to use the cocoa flavanols claim within EU countries. The claim can be used for cocoa beverages (with cocoa powder) or for dark chocolate providing at least a daily intake of 200 mg of cocoa flavanols. Barry Callebaut will be able to use the claim for its ACTICOA® cocoa and chocolate products which retain most of the cocoa flavanols naturally present in the cocoa bean.

Barry Callebaut’s customers who use ACTICOA® cocoa and chocolate products can apply the claim on their products and packaging. With this, they will be able to differentiate their offerings from other products on the market. Barry Callebaut sees new market potential to use the cocoa flavanols claim for – among others – applications in chocolate drinks, products using dark chocolate and even for the pharmaceutical industry.

Peter Boone, chief innovation officer at Barry Callebaut, says: “Receiving the right to use a health claim on cocoa flavanols by the EU Commission is most valuable for us as it is a great reward for long years of extensive research. The health claim is opening up new market potential. Since we received the positive opinion from EFSA on our submitted health claim, we saw a lot of interest among our customers.”

Herwig Bernaert, head of discovery programs and global projects at Barry Callebaut, adds: “The EU Commission’s approval marks a milestone in our research efforts in the healthy ingredients of the cocoa bean. We are very happy to be able to offer our ACTICOA® products with a health claim now, a real competitive differentiator for our customers.”

In July 2012, Barry Callebaut was the first company in the EU to obtain a positive Scientific Opinion on a health claim on cocoa flavanols by EFSA. Since 2005, the company has carried out more than 20 human clinical studies examining various impacts of cocoa flavanols on the human body functions. For these studies, Barry Callebaut used products made through its own developed ACTICOA® process. The company’s specific ACTICOA® process is the outcome of years of research into ways of preserving cocoa flavanols. Barry Callebaut succeeded in maintaining up to 80% of the cocoa flavanols which would otherwise be destroyed for the most part during the conventional chocolate-making process.