Company promises 'healthy' chocolate
Mars Inc., maker of Milky Way, Snickers and M&M's sweetmeats, next month plans to launch nationwide a new line of products made with a dark chocolate the company statement has health benefits.
Called CocoaVia, the products are made with a kind of dark chocolate high in flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that is thought to have a blood-thinning effect similar to aspirin and may even lower blood pressure. The snacks also are enriched with vitamins and with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols from soy.
But researchers are skeptical about using chocolate for its medicinal purposes and experts warn it's no substitute for a healthy diet.