Barry Callebaut launches probiotic chocolate

LONDON Barry Callebaut this week launched a new probiotic chocolate bar at the Food Ingredients Europe show in London, claiming chocolate is a better carrier of "good" intestinal bacteria than dairy products.

Hans Vries, chief innovation officer at Barry Callebaut, claims the company’s method of producing probiotic chocolate is so effective, that chocolate-embedded probiotics had significantly higher survival rates than those in dairy-based carriers when tested on simulations of the human stomach and small intestine. The tests also suggested that the probiotics in chocolate are four times less likely to perish on digestion.

Probiotics are bacteria commonly added to food products that manufacturers claim help improve both gut and immune health and restore the pH balance of the intestines.

Other additions to Barry Callebaut’s healthy chocolate portfolio include Acticoa, an antioxidant-rich cocoa.