Nestle has declared it has found a way to cut the quantity of sugar in chocolate by as much as 40 percent. Food companies have been receiving pressure from governments, as well as health advocates and shoppers to produce healthier sweets.
The company has managed to design a process that would alter the structure of sugar used in the recipes in order for smaller quantities to actually taste even sweeter, aligning its manufacturing to the current social standards.
A Change In The Recipe Against Unhealthy Eating
Nestle avoided going into details as to what formula will specifically be employed in this process, but the company said it will begin to create these new types of confectionery in 2018, gradually reducing the quantities of sugar in its products.
"It is sugar, but it is assembled differently so it can disassemble easily in your mouth with less going into your gastrointestinal tract," noted Stefan Catsicas, the company's chief technology officer.
Nestle is not the only company striving to change its recipes in order to produce healthier food. Other large businesses are undergoing the same process, such as PepsiCo Inc.
The issue is all the more pressing as a number of studies have shown that aspartame, a popular sugar substitute, does not help with weight loss, which makes it not only more unhealthy than sugar, but also inefficient in this respect.
Promoting Healthy Dietary Habits
"People do not really understand why these artificial sweeteners don't work. There has been some evidence that they actually can make you more hungry and may be associated with increased calorie consumption," said Dr. Richard Hodin, the senior author of a study analyzing the effects of sugar replacements on health.
Because of the alarming obesity rate, in the United Kingdom, Mexico and even some states in the United States, sugar taxes are employed in order to discourage buying sweets and therefore fight diabetes and obesity in children.
The diabetes rate is four times higher now than in 1980, and companies are believed to be partially responsible for this situation. According to the National Institutes of Health, type 2 diabetes - a leading cause of coronary heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and early death - was once rare in U.S. children.
Obesity rates have also increased dramatically in the last couple of decades, which makes health representatives increasingly worried about the future of dietary habits. Between the awareness campaigns and the health-friendly policies, they hope to lower the rates of health issues caused by poor choices in diets.
