Is the FDA Suggesting Chocolate Could Be Healthy?

Key TakeawaysA global chocolate manufacturer petitioned the FDA to review the research regarding the health benefits of flavanols, which are compounds found in chocolate.While research is emerging, early data suggests flavanols may be associated with benefits ranging from improved cardiovascular health to cancer prevention.The FDA said it won’t prevent manufacturers from making qualified health claims about flavanols.

Key Takeaways

A global chocolate manufacturer petitioned the FDA to review the research regarding the health benefits of flavanols, which are compounds found in chocolate.While research is emerging, early data suggests flavanols may be associated with benefits ranging from improved cardiovascular health to cancer prevention.The FDA said it won’t prevent manufacturers from making qualified health claims about flavanols.

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

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:

Qualified Health Claims May Be Allowed

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.

The Cheerios Lesson

One well-known example of the processhappened in 2009when the FDA sent a warning letter to General Mills. For years, the company marketed the popular breakfast cereal Cheerios as being a “heart-healthy” food. The company went so far as to put right on the box that if you eat Cheerios, “you can lower your cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks.”

General Mills also claimed that it haddone a clinical trialproving that Cheerios could lower cholesterol.

Despite touting research evidence, the FDA took issue with General Mills’ claim because if eating a bowl of Cheerios every day really could lower cholesterol levels, then the cereal would have to qualify as a drug, not a food.

Since Cheerios is not a medication, the FDA told General Mills it would need to change the wording on the label so it would not make consumers think that eating the cereal would lower their cholesterol.

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, theFDA statedthat a qualified health claim “only applies specifically to cocoa flavanols inhigh flavanol cocoa powderand foods that contain high flavanol cocoa powder.”

That means that regular “cocoa powder, foods containing regular cocoa powder, or other food products made fromcacao 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 theFDA proposed as acceptable:

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.

What This Means For YouChocolate is not a health item. But the FDA won’t prevent manufacturers from calling out the very limited data highlighting some of the health benefits linked to flavanols, which are found in chocolate.

What This Means For You

Chocolate is not a health item. But the FDA won’t prevent manufacturers from calling out the very limited data highlighting some of the health benefits linked to flavanols, which are found in chocolate.

7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center.Flavonoids.Panche AN, Diwan AD, Chandra SR.Flavonoids: an overview.J Nutr Sci. 2016;5:e47. doi:10.1017/jns.2016.41Ferraz CR, Carvalho TT, Manchope MF, et al.Therapeutic potential of flavonoids in pain and inflammation: mechanisms of action, pre-clinical and clinical data, and pharmaceutical development.Molecules. 2020;25(3):762. doi:10.3390/molecules25030762Ciumărnean L, Milaciu MV, Runcan O, et al.The effects of flavonoids in cardiovascular diseases.Molecules. 2020;25(18):4320. doi:10.3390/molecules25184320AL-Ishaq RK, Abotaleb M, Kubatka P, Kajo K, Büsselberg D.Flavonoids and their anti-diabetic effects: cellular mechanisms and effects to improve blood sugar levels.Biomolecules. 2019;9(9):430. doi:10.3390/biom9090430Kopustinskiene DM, Jakstas V, Savickas A, Bernatoniene J.Flavonoids as anticancer agents.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):457. doi:10.3390/nu12020457Lalani S, Poh CL.Flavonoids as antiviral agents forEnterovirus A71(EV-A71).Viruses. 2020;12(2):184. doi:10.3390/v12020184

7 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center.Flavonoids.Panche AN, Diwan AD, Chandra SR.Flavonoids: an overview.J Nutr Sci. 2016;5:e47. doi:10.1017/jns.2016.41Ferraz CR, Carvalho TT, Manchope MF, et al.Therapeutic potential of flavonoids in pain and inflammation: mechanisms of action, pre-clinical and clinical data, and pharmaceutical development.Molecules. 2020;25(3):762. doi:10.3390/molecules25030762Ciumărnean L, Milaciu MV, Runcan O, et al.The effects of flavonoids in cardiovascular diseases.Molecules. 2020;25(18):4320. doi:10.3390/molecules25184320AL-Ishaq RK, Abotaleb M, Kubatka P, Kajo K, Büsselberg D.Flavonoids and their anti-diabetic effects: cellular mechanisms and effects to improve blood sugar levels.Biomolecules. 2019;9(9):430. doi:10.3390/biom9090430Kopustinskiene DM, Jakstas V, Savickas A, Bernatoniene J.Flavonoids as anticancer agents.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):457. doi:10.3390/nu12020457Lalani S, Poh CL.Flavonoids as antiviral agents forEnterovirus A71(EV-A71).Viruses. 2020;12(2):184. doi:10.3390/v12020184

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center.Flavonoids.Panche AN, Diwan AD, Chandra SR.Flavonoids: an overview.J Nutr Sci. 2016;5:e47. doi:10.1017/jns.2016.41Ferraz CR, Carvalho TT, Manchope MF, et al.Therapeutic potential of flavonoids in pain and inflammation: mechanisms of action, pre-clinical and clinical data, and pharmaceutical development.Molecules. 2020;25(3):762. doi:10.3390/molecules25030762Ciumărnean L, Milaciu MV, Runcan O, et al.The effects of flavonoids in cardiovascular diseases.Molecules. 2020;25(18):4320. doi:10.3390/molecules25184320AL-Ishaq RK, Abotaleb M, Kubatka P, Kajo K, Büsselberg D.Flavonoids and their anti-diabetic effects: cellular mechanisms and effects to improve blood sugar levels.Biomolecules. 2019;9(9):430. doi:10.3390/biom9090430Kopustinskiene DM, Jakstas V, Savickas A, Bernatoniene J.Flavonoids as anticancer agents.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):457. doi:10.3390/nu12020457Lalani S, Poh CL.Flavonoids as antiviral agents forEnterovirus A71(EV-A71).Viruses. 2020;12(2):184. doi:10.3390/v12020184

Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center.Flavonoids.

Panche AN, Diwan AD, Chandra SR.Flavonoids: an overview.J Nutr Sci. 2016;5:e47. doi:10.1017/jns.2016.41

Ferraz CR, Carvalho TT, Manchope MF, et al.Therapeutic potential of flavonoids in pain and inflammation: mechanisms of action, pre-clinical and clinical data, and pharmaceutical development.Molecules. 2020;25(3):762. doi:10.3390/molecules25030762

Ciumărnean L, Milaciu MV, Runcan O, et al.The effects of flavonoids in cardiovascular diseases.Molecules. 2020;25(18):4320. doi:10.3390/molecules25184320

AL-Ishaq RK, Abotaleb M, Kubatka P, Kajo K, Büsselberg D.Flavonoids and their anti-diabetic effects: cellular mechanisms and effects to improve blood sugar levels.Biomolecules. 2019;9(9):430. doi:10.3390/biom9090430

Kopustinskiene DM, Jakstas V, Savickas A, Bernatoniene J.Flavonoids as anticancer agents.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):457. doi:10.3390/nu12020457

Lalani S, Poh CL.Flavonoids as antiviral agents forEnterovirus A71(EV-A71).Viruses. 2020;12(2):184. doi:10.3390/v12020184

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