Spanish food firm raises the bar of functional chocolate

In response to the increasing consumer demand for healthier chocolate, Spanish food firm Natra has unveiled a new line of functional chocolate and cocoa products entitled Chocoloactive.

Working in collaboration with multinational biotechnology firm Natraceutical, in which it has a 50% stake, Natra has formulated the Chocoloactive line to help its industrial clients increase the health profile of their products via the addition of fibre and omega-3, and the reduction of lactose and sugar.

The chocolate and cocoa derivatives will be available to Natra customers in different formats: cocoa mass, butter powder and industrial chocolate.

Recently introduced at the Health Ingredients Europe 2008 show, the new range includes: low-sugar and high-soluble fibre chocolate; chocolates with omega-3; chocolate with no added sugar; organic white chocolate; low lactose chocolate and energy chocolate, which claims that two squares alone contain the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee.

Chocoloactive adds to the firm's other 'value-added' chocolate and cocoa ingredients, which include high polyphenol chocolate, low-fat products and organic or Fairtrade products.

The new chocolate range can be passed on to Natra clients in raw material form and used in the production of dairy products, cookies, pastry, cereals or ice creams.