A NEW version of the Cadbury Dairy Milk bar containing 30 per cent less sugar is to go on sale from next year as part of industry efforts to respond to the obesity crisis.
Cadbury owner Mondelez International described the new bar as the “most significant innovation in the brand’s history” as it unveiled similar sugar reduction plans for other lines such as Wine Gums and Jelly Babies products.
The new Dairy Milk bar will sit alongside the original on shelves and offer consumers greater choice, the company said.
Glenn Caton, Mondelez International president for Northern Europe, said the science behind the reformulation was a “trade secret” but said some of the sugar had been replaced with fibre to maintain the original bar’s structure and texture.
He described the taste of the new bar as “incredibly similar” to the original, saying: “It tastes very, very close to the original but a little less sweet. It’s been tested extensively on consumers and they love it.”
Mondelez said a team of 20 scientists, nutritionists and chocolatiers worked for almost two years at its Reading and Bournville units to cut sugar without adding any artificial sweeteners, colours or preservatives.
The calorie content remains similar between the two bars, but the sugar content has dropped from 56g per 100g in the original bar to 39g per 100g in the new version.
Mondelez said it would look to apply the approach to other Cadbury Dairy Milk products if it proves successful with consumers.
It also unveiled plans for the next two years to release its Cadbury Boost+ Protein bar with 32% less sugar, 30% lower sugar versions of its Maynards Bassetts Wine Gums and Jelly Babies products and a line of its BelVita breakfast biscuits with 40% less sugar.
Longer term plans include a reformulation of Cadbury Brunch bars to cut sugar by around 20% and a lower sugar version of Oreo biscuits.
Mr Caton said the company recognised that consumers wanted to manage their sugar intake.
He said: “Our brands have been around for hundreds of years. They are a part of British culture and heritage and play a special role in people’s lives as treats to be enjoyed during a moment of indulgence.
“Taking sugar out of our products isn’t easy and will take time. Ultimately they are treats and people expect them to taste great, but we’re working hard to find innovative solutions that provide more choice without compromising on their world-renowned taste and quality.”
Last month the Government unveiled the second phase of plans to halve childhood obesity by 2030.
They include proposals to reduce “pester power” by stopping supermarkets from displaying unhealthy foods at checkouts, aisle ends and store entrances, as well as stopping products high in fat, sugar and salt from being included in buy-one-get-one-free deals.
Earlier this year campaigners Action on Sugar called for a 20% sales tax on confectionery.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel