Dominican chocolate has positioned itself in the United States as a functional food.

According to the American Dietetic Association – Eat Right division, knowledge of the role of physiologically active food components, both phytochemicals and zoochemicals, has changed the role of diet in health for the American consumer.

As head of innovation for the American company Innocent Chocolate Products LLC and First Foods Group Inc, master chocolatier Moisés Davidovits works from cocoa obtained directly from plantations in the Dominican Republic, with high-quality oils from the United States.

“The main chronic diseases that affect human beings and that cause the majority of deaths include cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. The effects of these diseases can be prevented with functional foods.”

The expert maintains that functional food is anything that, in addition to its nutritional quality, nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein and fat, has compounds that, as in the case of polyphenols in cocoa, act in the prevention of diseases and in improving health.

“Chocolate polyphenols may be an important means of reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer, due to their ability to control key reactions involved in the oxidation of LDL or oxidative damage to DNA.”

Davidovits, founder of the Dominican company Chocolates Khao Caribe, explains that, in the case of chocolate, it can be enriched with functional foods, such as fibers (polydextrose, insulin, guar gum), collagen, coconut oil, fruits such as gojiberry or blueberry. , and others such as chia, almonds or proteins.

According to the statistics portal Statista, the market for fortified and functional foods worldwide reached US$378 billion in 2020.