Nestle is taking a step in the right direction by following the health food trends and decreasing the sugar content in its chocolate treats. Nice!
CNBC reports that Nestle chocolate products will have 10 percent less sugar starting in 2018 in an effort to make their sweet snacks healthier. The best part? The sugar will be replaced with non-artificial ingredients. You go, Nestle! Brands like KitKat, Aeros, Lion and After Eight will reportedly have about 8,267 tons of sugar removed.
"Nestle is at the forefront of efforts to research and develop new technology that makes food products better for our consumers. These innovations will help us to reduce sugar in confectionery when they are combined with other, more common methods like reformulating recipes and swapping sugar for other, non-artificial ingredients," a Nestle chairman said in a press release.
“Making these improvements to our products is key to us delivering better choices for our consumers while retaining the same great taste that they know and love.”
The moves are being made in the U.K. and Ireland, as childhood obesity rates rise and taxes are imposed on sugar to curb this trend. According to Independent, childhood obesity and diabetes affects four times the amount of people as in 1980. That's a serious problem.
Some cities in the U.K. and the U.S. are implementing the above-mentioned taxes on sugar. Maybe this should be a wake-up call for more brands to stand up and help fight the good fight. Usually, it's hard to get those who are profiting from the sales of something to start changing their methods, but this time it's for a very good cause. No one wants to see high rates of childhood obesity and diabetes.
In 2016, Nestle announced that it has been conducting research to create a new sugar technology that would eliminate up to 40 percent of sugar content in its products without compromising taste. This scientific breakthrough could be huge, and maybe this 10 percent step is the first step down a long road in that direction. I applaud Nestle and hope to see more chocolate brands follow suit.