September 10/Zurich, Switzerland and Wieze, Belgium/Press Release -- Barry Callebaut, a manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, announced that the EU Commission approved its health claim submission on cocoa flavanols (Regulation No 851/2013), following the positive Scientific Opinion issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in July 2012. The company received the right to use the health claim that “cocoa flavanols help maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, which contributes to normal blood flow.” Barry Callebaut was able to provide evidence that the daily intake of 200mg of cocoa flavanols (provided by 2.5g ACTICOA cocoa powder or 10g 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 200mg 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, said, “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, added, “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.”