Nestlé releases chocolate bar with 30% less sugar

As modern consumers become more health conscious, the nutrition of confectionery products is coming under scrutiny. Nestlé has responded to consumer demand by creating a new, healthier chocolate bar called Milkybar Wowsomes.

Based on its iconic Milkybar brand, Milkybar Wowsomes contain fibrous crispy oat cereal and have 30% less sugar than a regular chocolate bar. Taking inspiration from candy floss, Nestlé scientists restructured sugar to create a more aerated version that tastes equally as sweet but dissolves faster.

This sugar reduction technique was announced in 2016, and it took scientists in the UK, Switzerland and the Czech Republic just over a year of research and development to convert it into a commercially available product.

The chocolate bar will be sold in major retailers in the UK and Ireland next week and, for the first time in Milkybar’s 81-year history, it will be available in a mixture of milk and white chocolate, as well as its traditional white chocolate.

Since it contains more natural ingredients and no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colours or flavourings, this will appeal particularly to parents looking to provide a healthier version of their children’s favourite confectionery.

“We announced earlier this month that we have taken out more than 60 billion calories and 2.6 billion teaspoons of sugar from across our food and drink portfolio in the last three years. A new product like Milkybar Wowsomes introduces greater choice and allows parents to treat their children with chocolate that tastes great but has less sugar. We are demonstrating how we can, and will, contribute to a healthier future and that we take our public health responsibilities very seriously,” said Stefano Agostini, CEO of Nestlé UK and Ireland.

In the ‘Contributing to a Healthier Future’ report, Nestlé UK and Ireland explained that recipe changes — such as making milk the number one ingredient in Milkybar — are partly responsible for this huge reduction in calories and sugar.

The company has already achieved a 7.4% sugar reduction in its confectionery and it aims to increase this to 10% to deliver on its 2017 pledge. The Milkybar Wowsomes announcement is evidence of the company’s commitment to create more nutritious products.

“We will continue our work and take this technology further so that we can deliver more confectionery products that taste great and are better for our consumers,” said Jas Scott de Martinville, global lead for Nestlé Confectionery Research & Development.

Nestlé also plans to extend this sugar technology to other chocolate brands, and although this move will not transform the confectionery industry overnight, it sets the precedent for other companies to follow suit in creating healthier treats.

Image credit: Nestlé.