Could Chocolate With Viagra Properties Be Just Around the Corner?

Men looking to get in the mood may not need to seek solace in a blue pill anymore.

Swiss chocolate manufacturing giant Barry Callebut received official validation from the European Food Safety Authority on their claims that cocoa enhances blood flow. The claim is similar to what Viagra does, even though the pill targets the problem more locally.

The Aztecs in South America, during ancient times, believed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac. In fact, the substance was so prized in their society that it exchanged hands like money.

However, until now, most studies have found that the compounds that would have an effect - like tryptophan and phenylethylamine - were present in such limited quantities in commercial chocolate that the effect would have been minimal.

Over the summer, though, Barry Callebut performed a study that found that flavanols - present in cocoa - increase blood flow. Similarly, Viagra increases blood flow, though its more localized mechanisms target it specifically to the penis.

Flavanols are normally removed during the chocolate production process. However, the Daily Mail speculates that chocolate manufacturers could come out with lines of turbo-charged chocolate and drinks in an effort to combat any technical difficulties with a delicious taste. Indeed, flavanols do not need to be removed; Barry Callebut said that they were able to retain up to 80 percent of flavanols in a special in-house production process called Acticoa.

However, Barry Callebut will neither confirm nor deny the claims made by the Daily Mail. The head of media relations, Raphael Wermuth, said that it was too early to comment, but that they would when the European Union made a decision. Wermuth also noted that the British news outlet did not contact the company for comment.

Though you may not have ever heard of Barry Callebut, the company is the largest manufacturer of chocolate in the world. It supplies chocolate for household names like Cadbury.

It has been reported that the European Union is weeks away from approving the claim.