Is chocolate good for your heart? Finally the FDA has an answer – kind of

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/02/12/ [login to see] /chocolate-heart-health-flavanols
There's plenty of mystique tied to chocolate. Over the centuries, cocoa has been touted as an aphrodisiac and a health elixir. The Mayans even used cocoa as a form of cash and buried their aristocrats with it. It appears they believed that "it helped people get into the afterlife and survive in the afterlife," says Nat Bletter, an ethnobotanist and chocolate-maker.

As myths have evolved over cocoa's several thousand year history as a food, so too has the scientific pursuit to understand how it may influence our health. Cocoa contains lots of bioactive compounds called flavanols, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In recent years, studies have shown the flavanols in cocoa can help improve blood flow and lower blood pressure.

Back in 2018, a company that manufactures chocolate and cocoa products, Barry Callebaut AG Switzerland, petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow the use of a health claim on labels, pointing to the link between the consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, after an exhaustive review of studies, the FDA has responded.