New from Masterfoods (Hackettstown, N.J.) in the U.S. is CocoaVia chocolate snacks—made from cocoa extracts proven to reduce cholesterol. The packaging proclaims, “Be good to your heart every day.” Available both as a crunch bar and as chocolate chews, each has less than 3g of fat and less than 90 calories. They also contain vitamins E and C, folic acid, and calcium, among others.

According to the company, the manufacturing process allows 100mg of cocoa flavanols to be retained per serving. The product is available as 0.78-oz. crunch bars in chocolate, chocolate-almond, chocolate-blueberry, and chocolate-cherry flavors. The chews come in 1.5-oz. packs (seven chews), in milk and dark chocolate flavors. The product is currently in test and can be found at www.cocoavia.com and by phone. Trial orders start at $15 and include 10 crunch bars and 56 chews.

Ingredients: Chocolate Crunch: Granola (soy crisp [rice flour, soy protein isolate, barley malt], crisp rice, oats, brown sugar, barley malt), milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor), high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, cocoa powder*, soy sterol esters, vitamins and minerals (calcium carbonate, ascorbic acid, vitamin E acetate, cyanocobalamin, folic acid, pyridoxine HCL), less than 2% – chocolate, fructose, sugar, salt, brown sugar, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavors, TBHQ to maintain freshness, peanuts, almonds, wheat

Nutrition: Serving size 23g (1bar), calories 80, calories from fat 20, total fat 2.5g, saturated fat 1g, cholesterol 0mg, sodium 55mg, total carbohydrate 15g, dietary fiber 1g, sugars 9g, protein 2g, vitamin E 10%, vitamin C 10%, vitamin B6 10%, calcium 20%, folic acid 10%, iron 2%, vitamin B12 10%