Chocolates are the latest battle ground for those seeking to make foods healthier. Chocolates usually contain cocoa beans, cocoa butter, vegetable oil, milk or dairy products, sugar and emulsifier.

The purveyors of healthier chocolate make the claim that using non-nutritive or low-calorie sweeteners can make chocolates less indulgent and better for your health. We drilled it down to one crucial metric: Calories per bite. 

We looked at Ditch the Guilt, La folie, Mason, The Whole truth and A Diabetic Chef's chocolate bars. The average chocolate square weighs 6 grams per bite. Every one of these bars except Ditch the Guilt yields somewhere between 33-37 calories per bite. This is identical to Amul, Cadburys and most other chocolate out there. 

Ditch the Guilt yields 26 calories per bite since they jump on the alternative ingredient bandwagon wholeheartedly by using pea protein, nuts and erythritol. The taste is polarising. 

TAKEAWAY

You eat chocolate for one reason and one reason alone: It tastes good. If you are eating enough chocolate to give you antioxidants, you are going to consume far too many calories regardless of brand. 

New-age chocolate brands will try to convince you that their better ingredients can make chocolate better for you. But truth remains, chocolate like all good things will remain far too calorific as long cocoa beans and cocoa butter are involved in the making of it (both contain 5-9 calories per gram). The strategy as with all good things in life: Moderation. As few bites of whatever brand tickles your palate and makes you happy. 

A couple of interesting things chocolate makers are doing:

1. Smaller portion size indications and packaging
2. Playing around with different sweeteners and ingredients to drive down the calories per bite