SWEET CHOCOLATE
Even while much less sugar is used in the chocolate, the tongue perceives an almost identical sweetness to before
Photo by: Duane Daws
A new fast-dissolving sugar developed by Swiss food multinational Nestlé will help it to reduce the amount of sugar used in its chocolates by 40% by 2018 without reducing the sweetness of the chocolates, says Nestlé chief technology officer Stefan Catsicas.
“Using only natural ingredients, researchers found a way to structure sugar differently. So even while much less sugar is used in chocolate, the tongue perceives an almost identical sweetness to before.”
Nestlé is patenting its findings and will begin to use the faster-dissolving sugar across a range of its confectionery products from 2018 onwards.
The company will provide more details about the first roll-out of reduced-sugar confectionery sometime next year.
The research will accelerate Nestlé’s efforts to meet its public commitment to reducing sugar in its products.
“It is one of a range of commitments the company has made on nutrition, which includes improving the nutritional profile of our products by reducing the amount of sugar, salt and saturated fat they contain, and simultaneously increasing healthier nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and whole grain,” says Catsicas.
Throughout 2015, together with Cereal Partners Worldwide (Nestlé’s joint venture with General Mills), the company had reformulated its recipes to reduce the sugar content in breakfast cereals to 9 g per serving.
By the end of 2015, it had reduced added-sugar content by 18 000 t, or 4.1%, towards its objective of a 10% reduction.
The firm has committed to further reduce sugar content by 10% by 2016 in products that do not meet the Nestlé Nutritional Foundation criteria, to ensure continual improvement even in more challenging areas of its product portfolio.
“However, the challenge for us lies in consistently providing tastier and healthier solu- tions that meet consumer preferences. Further, renovation work has been engaged, which we expect to generate additional reductions of 3.6%. To implement more lasting and impactful technological solutions in our factories, we may have to extend the work [required to meet] this commitment beyond 2016.”