Nestle Introduces Candybar with High-Tech Restructured Sugar
Candy with 30 percent less sugar, thanks to science.
Image: Nestlé
What happens to grains of sugar when you pump them full of holes and then throw them in a candy bar? According to Nestlé, you get a candy bar that’s just as sweet, only with a fraction of the sugar.
On Tuesday, Nestlé announced that it was releasing a special new candy bar made with such a process. The “Milkybar Wowsome,” which will be released next week in the U.K. and Ireland, contains 30 percent less sugar than the classic Milkybar.
Fans of the classic Milkybar will be excited to find that the Wowsome bars come in two different flavors, with one being white chocolate and the other being a mixture of white and milk chocolate. The chocolate is wrapped around crispy cereal pieces. In accordance to the company’s broader sugar reduction quest that it began in 2000, the Milkybar will also contain the new structured sugar, which was first revealed in 2016.
Nestlé’s structured sugar is made using a method comparable to that of cotton candy. Sugar, powdered milk and water are sprayed into hot air, which causes the particles to dry out and stabilize while filled with microscopic holes. This sugar structure causes the sugar to dissolve more quickly upon contact with liquid (in this case, on your tongue). The sugar tastes just as sweet, but since it’s porous, there’s less of it.
This new technology is a reaction to an ongoing global trend, in which consumers are shunning processed sugars in favor of healthier products.
“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,” said Stefano Agostini, CEO of Nestlé U.K. and Ireland, in a statement. “We are demonstrating how we can, and will, contribute to a healthier future and that we take our public health responsibilities very seriously.”
The Wowbars will be available in various sizes from singles to fill-up packs, with the largest sizes containing 95 calories each.
Will the United States be seeing this reduced-sugar sugar technology anytime soon? That’s probably going to be a no—at least for now—since Nestlé sold its American confectionery products to Ferrero.
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