Brand Name Reintroduction

The CocoaVia line of snacks that was introduced in 2003 included snack bars (rice, oat and soy crisps drizzled with chocolate), chocolate covered almonds and chocolate bars was discontinued in the United States in late 2008 or early 2009. CocoaVia was formerly a proprietary chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

 product produced by a division of Mars Incorporated, Mars Nutrition for Health & Well-Being. In October 2010, the name was reintroduced as the brand of a chocolaty flavored dietary supplement beverage mix produced by Mars Botanical, a division of Mars Incorporated. CocoaVia is now available online at cocoavia.com. Any similarities to the former CocoaVia product line end with the name. Each serving of CocoaVia delivers 350 mg of cocoa flavanols from cocoa extract so its all the benefits of dark chocolate without the calories. CocoaVia has 30 calories per serving. The benefits of cocoa come from cocoa flavanols and percent cocoa is not a measure of cocoa flavanols. A chocolate or cocoa product with a high percentage of cocoa extract may not retain its cocoa flavanol content if the cocoa bean is exposed to high temperatures during processing. The process for producing CocoaVia includes using the patented Cocoapro® process that guarantees that the cocoa extract in CocoaVia has consistent levels of flavanols.

The U.S. CocoaVia web site now is used to sell the dietary supplement beverage powder called CocoaVia.

In June, 2009 Mars Botanical introduced Cirkuhealth, "to promote circulation." It was launched June 12, 2009 http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Industry/Cocoa-derived-Cirku-launched-for-better-circulation. The CirkuHealth branded product was replaced in October 2010 with CocoaVia.