21:38 07 February 2017
In a bid by the Government to combat child obesity, manufacturers of various chocolates, which include Dairy Milks, Kit Kats, and Mars bars are said to be reducing the size of their products by up to 20per cent. The move could help them avoid being highlighted in a new report by Public Health England (PHE) according to the Sunday Times.
Nestle said: “While re-sizing is an effective way to reduce sugar, calories and fat from confectionery, it is certainly not the only choice.
“Recipe reformulation, ingredient substitution and the use of new technologies are all possibilities and with the right investment behind them, could deliver significant reductions.
“Nestlé is in the process of looking at all options and we are keeping in close contact with PHE while they establish their sugar reduction programme”.
Mondelez (the American company which owns Cadbury) said: “We have been an active partner in the consultation on the Childhood Obesity Plan and the sugar reduction targets and look forward to seeing the output of this in March.
"As a result of what is published we will consider all the options available to us as we look to continuing to play our role in tackling public health issues such as obesity.
"Importantly, we have already been very active in this space including offering more portion control products, bringing all our single portion chocolate bars under 250kcal, and launching sugar-free offerings such as Halls and Trebor Mighties.”