ST. LOUIS, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- St. Louis-based Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier is promoting its new bite-sized candy as a healthy food with six times the antioxidants of blueberries.
The nut- and seed-filled Bissinger's Naturals launched last week at a Brentwood, Mo., Whole Foods Market with research help by the University of Illinois, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Bissinger's President Kenneth Kellerhals said people could eat seven to eight pieces of the candy a day to get "a lot of nice nutrition."
However, the University of Illinois food scientist who coordinated the antioxidant research said the candy should be eaten in moderation.
"I'm not saying that you should substitute chocolate for all your fruits and vegetables," Associate Professor Nicki Engeseth said.
Research has shown that chocolate -- and particularly dark chocolate -- contains antioxidants called flavonoids.
Bissinger's Naturals builds on Spa Chocolates that the company introduced last year and plans to follow up with Spa 2 this fall, the newspaper reported.
