The war on sugar is really heating up as popular chocolate brands such as Dairy Milk and Mars are planning to reduce their size in order to avoid being shamed. Apparently, starting March, a series of reports on child obesity will be released by Public Health England.
The Huffington Post reports that 1 out of three children ages two up to 15 are overweight. The government is keen on battling the problem and has planned to come up with a sugar reduction program. The goal is to reduce sugar consumption by 20 percent by the year 2020.
The report states that teenagers from England consume more sugar-sweetened drinks that any other country in Europe. The amount consumed increases the children's risk of getting tooth decay and worse type 2 diabetes. The program is going to focus on the nine products that contribute the most intake of sugar in the diet of a child or teenager. They are ice cream, sweet spreads, breakfast cereals, yogurts, biscuits, confectionery, cakes, morning goods and pudding.
The plan is challenging chocolate manufacturers into reducing the amount of sugar found in their products. Telegraph UK reports that reducing the sugar amount in drinks may be easy, as artificial sweeteners can be used instead. But when it comes to chocolate bars, it will be more difficult as using artificial sweeteners may change the taste of the product.
The solution of the big companies such as Nestle, Mars and Mondelez is to cut down the size of their chocolate instead. Representatives from these companies have stated that they will always support the sugar reduction program and looks forward to partnering with Public Health England.
Mondelez has reported that they have already done portion control in some of their products, with some chocolate bars only having 250kcal, and even offering some sugar-free sweets. Meanwhile, Nestle reveals that aside from reducing the size of their chocolate bars, they are also considering altering the recipe.
