Wouldn't it be nice that at least one of our addictions was healthy? The Mars company, maker of products such as Milky Way, Snickers, M&M, claimed it succeeded in making this dream a reality and aims to launch a new series of products which contain dark chocolate with some health benefits.

CocoaVia, the new product which is about to be presented, will contain a large number of flavanols, an antioxidant present in cocoa beans; this substance is believed to have blood thinning effects, similar to aspirin, and may also lower the blood pressure.

The product will also contain vitamins and extracts from soy that may help lower the cholesterol. However, scientist are in doubt whether chocolate should be used for medicinal purposes and do not recommend it as a substitute for a healthy diet.

In a study published by the American Heart Association, chocolate is said to have the potential to reduce heart disease; still, not enough data is collected about flavanols in order to recommend chocolate in a person's diet. The fat from dark chocolate is a type which does not raise the level of cholesterol, but which can add some unwanted pounds if one eats too much. Be that as it may, chocolate, especially the dark one, has sales of about $10 billion-a-year.

Mars created a new division, Mars Nutrition for Health & Well-Being, which will be promoting the new CocoaVia. Jimmy Cass, Mars' vice president of marketing, recently declared: "Chocolate ... is the number one flavor ingredient in the world. Heart health is the No. 1 concern of adults over the age of 40 in every civilized nation. Putting those two together is automatically a big idea."

John Swartzberg, chairman of the newsletter's editorial board and clinical professor of health and medical science at Berkeley, declared that CocoaVia is just another candy bar, an expensive one, and that fruits and vegetables remain the main source for a healthy life.