Mars Botanical FAQ
Who is Mars Botanical?
As a newly established division of Mars, Incorporated, Mars Botanical will continue to build on its 15-year heritage of scientific leadership and dedication to unlocking the full nutritional and medical potential of cocoa flavanols.
The mission of Mars Botanical is to further develop leading edge science and technologies in the field of phytonutrients with the goal of creating new plant-derived products aimed at improving human health, and do so in a sustainable way that helps both farming communities and their local environment.
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What are cocoa flavanols?
Cocoa flavanols are naturally occurring plant compounds found in cocoa that have been linked to circulatory health benefits, although they are typically destroyed in traditional chocolate manufacturing. Mars Botanical is building upon Mars, Incorporated's research into cocoa flavanols. Our plant scientists are taking the study and application of these compounds to the molecular level.
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What are the benefits of cocoa flavanols?
A growing body of evidence indicates that flavanols found naturally in cocoa beans and fresh cocoa provide a range of circulatory health benefits. Specifically, research indicates that cocoa flavanols may help:
- Improve blood vessel function and increase blood flow
- Reduce tendency of blood clots to form
- Reduce blood pressure in people with mild hypertension
- Increase blood flow to the brain, which could have important implications for learning and memory
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Are flavanols antioxidants?
Flavanols may be known for their antioxidant activity, however, newer studies suggest that the health benefits they provide are the result of other mechanisms. Looking for products that claim "high in antioxidants” can be misleading because the measurements are taken in a test tube, not the human body. While flavanols (like many plant-derived substances) may act as antioxidants, their circulatory benefits have little to do with their antioxidant properties. For this reason, high flavanol content is the best way to guarantee that a product will provide tangible circulatory health benefits.
Read research studies about flavanols.
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What research supports the health benefits of flavanols?
Peer-reviewed biomedical research has shown that the consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa products can offer a range of tangible circulatory health benefits.
Learn more about the Mars commitment to research.
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Do dark chocolate products have more flavanols?
Claims that dark chocolate contains more flavanols than milk chocolate can be misleading. Many people erroneously equate the percentage of cocoa in dark chocolates with increased health benefits, but flavanols are largely destroyed during traditional manufacturing, regardless of the type of chocolate.
Mars developed the Cocoapro® process to retain cocoa flavanols, and cocoa and chocolate products made with the Cocoapro process contain verifiable amounts of cocoa flavanols.
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What is Mars, Incorporated Cocoapro®?
Cocoa is among the richest sources of flavanols yet traditional cocoa processing often destroys these highly-sensitive compounds. Mars, Incorporated developed a patented and proprietary process called Cocoapro® that helps retain the flavanols normally destroyed during processing.
For more information on the Mars Cocoapro process, please click here.
The products using the Mars Cocoapro® process to capture flavanols are CocoaVia® and Dove®.
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Do all chocolate products contain significant levels of flavanols?
No. Traditional manufacturing processes such as fermentation and roasting drastically reduce the levels of flavanols in most chocolates. The Mars Cocoapro® process retains flavanols typically lost in chocolate manufacturing.
Find out about the different applications of the Mars Cocoapro® process.
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How does the Mars, Incorporated Cocoapro® process retain flavanols?
The Mars Cocoapro® process retains flavanols by processing cocoa in a specific series of steps, retaining flavanols at each step.
For more information on the patented Mars Cocoapro® process, please click here.
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What is the difference between polyphenols, flavonoids and flavanols?
Follow this link for information about these plant compounds.
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Where can I find cocoa flavanol products?
The products using the Mars Cocoapro® process to capture flavanols are CocoaVia® and Dove®.
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What are phytonutrients?
Phytonutrients are plant-derived compounds that have health-promoting qualities. Also known as phytochemicals ("phyto" refers to plants).
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