Is the FDA Suggesting Chocolate Could Be Healthy?

On February 3, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it won’t try to stop manufacturers from making certain claims about the health benefits of cocoa flavanols in its products.

The statement was in response to a petition letter sent by global chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut, who asked the FDA to review the research on flavanols and health and reconsider allowing product labels to note those benefits for consumers.

Here’s what you need to know about the FDA’s new stance, including what types of products can make feature claims about the potential health benefits of flavanols.

What Are Flavanols and Why Are They In Chocolate?

Flavonoids or flavanols are compounds called phytonutrients that naturally occur in a lot of different foods—everything from veggies and grains to tea, red wine, and chocolate.

Researchers have long been interested in finding out whether these compounds have health benefits. Some studies suggest that flavanols may:

• Fight inflammation and chronic pain through its antioxidant effects
• Help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol to support cardiovascular health
• Reduce the risk of diabetes by regulating carbohydrate digestion and function of cells involved in blood sugar levels
• Prevent cancer by fixing DNA, keeping carcinogens at bay, and keeping cells in check
• Work against viral infections by keeping viruses from attaching to and getting into the body’s cells
• Boost brain health and cognitive function by protecting brain cells

While flavanol research looks promising, it’s still in early days in terms of looking at the health effects in humans. That said, since there’s interest from consumers about the possible benefits—after all, it’s good news that our vices may be healthy—researchers have an incentive to keep studying flavanols to see if the health claims are backed by evidence.

Qualified Health Claims May Be Allowed

The FDA regulates product labeling by reviewing health claims to make sure that they are at least qualified, if not authorized, based on the available research evidence.

An authorized health claim is backed up by a lot of high-quality research and is agreed upon by experts. A qualified health claim has some evidence behind it, just not quite at that level. When manufacturers put qualified health claims on their labels, they also have to include a disclaimer to make the limitations clear to consumers.

The health claims that manufacturers might want to make about cocoa flavanols likely fall into this qualified health claim space: There is some research, but it’s still early.

We Probably Won't Start Seeing Claims About Flavanols on Chocolate

You probably won’t be seeing health claims about flavanols on a candy bar any time soon. While the FDA may allow some health claims to be made, the organization is being very clear about the wording it will accept on labels, as well as what products can have a health claim on them.

Specifically, the FDA stated that a qualified health claim “only applies specifically to cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder and foods that contain high flavanol cocoa powder.”

That means that regular “cocoa powder, foods containing regular cocoa powder, or other food products made from cacao beans, such as chocolate” cannot be labeled with a qualified health claim about flavanols.

In terms of how the claims will need to be worded, here’s what the FDA proposed as acceptable:

• “Cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, although the FDA has concluded that there is very limited scientific evidence for this claim.”
• “Cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The FDA has concluded that there is very limited scientific evidence for this claim.”
• “Very limited scientific evidence suggests that consuming cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder, which contains at least 4% of naturally conserved cocoa flavanols, may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.”
• “Very limited scientific evidence suggests that consuming cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder, which contains at least 4% of naturally conserved cocoa flavanols, may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. This product contains at least 4% of naturally conserved cocoa flavanols. See nutrition information for _____ and other nutrients.”

While the approved wording aligns with the FDA’s goal of protecting consumers, it doesn’t make for a catchy label—so the development might be bittersweet for cocoa manufacturers.