It is the first in a list of products which claim to tackle heart disease and cut the risk of cancer.

The confectionary is made from a certain type of dark chocolate which is high in flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans.

Flavanols are believed to have blood-thinning qualities similar to aspirin and may even help lower blood pressure.

The chocolate bars are enriched with vitamins and injected with cholesterol-lowering plant extracts from soy, while the snacks are fortified with calcium and a mix of heart-healthy nutrients including folic acid, vitamins B-6, B-12, C and E.

The company which makes the popular Milky Way, Snickers and M&Ms, has spent ten years developing the products which are expected to go on sale across America next month.

There are at present no plans for an immediate release in Europe.

The treats are described as "real chocolate pleasure while being good to your heart every day".

Mars is claiming the ingredients can significantly reduce "bad" cholesterol levels and promote healthy circulation to maintain heart health.

Mars has created a new division, Mars Nutrition for Health and Well-Being, to distribute CocoaVia.

The company has apparently developed a special manufacturing process which guarantees the retention of high levels of the naturally occurring cocoa flavanols.

Blurb accompanying the products supposedly recommends eating two of the bars a day as part of a healthy diet. Don't you love it?

Although some experts are wary of the dangers of marketing chocolate as a health product, others acknowledge money has been spent on research, and say as with red wine as long as they are part of a healthy, balanced diet, it is acceptable

Researchers in the U.S., which has some of the highest levels of obesity in the world, have also raised concerns.

Chocolate contains caffeine; more in dark than milk chocolate; and phenylethylamine, a substance said to create the same effect as being in love!

The studies were conducted by a team of collaborators including Pedro A. Jose, M.D., Ph.D., at Georgetown University School of Medicine (Washington D.C.), Hironobu Sanada, M.D., Ph.D., Fukushima Medical University (Fukushima, Japan), and Scott Williams, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN). Funding for these studies was provided in part by a $10.2 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The grant will allow this group of collaborating investigators, including Dr. Robert M. Carey, M.D. (University of Virginia) to extend their studies on the genetic bases for high blood pressure and salt sensitivity and their mechanisms in subjects from many different ethnic backgrounds, which could influence the predictive value of the diagnostic test. The team's work will examine the normal mechanisms associated with sodium (salt) management by the kidney and how the failure of these mechanisms contributes to high blood pressure.

Dr. Carey will recruit an additional 3,000 volunteers who will receive genetic screens to identify gene variants that contribute to elevated blood pressure. Dr. Jose's research will determine how dopamine receptors and angiotensin II receptors regulate each other. The information from these studies will provide new insights into how hypertension develops, how it can be tested and how it can be treated.

Right now, no definitive diagnostic test exists for salt sensitivity, except for a protocol in which diet is controlled rigorously over a two-week period. "Through these grant funds, we wish to stimulate broader research in the area of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and salt sensitivity," said Dr. Felder. "It's important because cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, account for more disability and death than the next top five causes combined."

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