Goodbye Sugar! Sweet Treats to Get Downsized

Most of us are partial to a sweet treat or two every now and then, but we all know that they tend not to be the healthiest options. Things like cakes and chocolate may be mouth-wateringly delicious and more tempting than fruit or healthy alternatives, but they also usually contain a fair amount of sugar.

The last few years have seen more and more people become aware of the damage that too much sugar can do to our health. As a result, many companies have released low-sugar alternatives to their products to try and help us keep our diets healthy – even if it doesn’t always make much difference to what we put in our shopping trolley.

But even these reductions are not quite enough and now Public Health England is challenging businesses that change everyday foods, such as chocolate bars, biscuits and cakes, to cut down on how much sugar they contain by a whopping 20 per cent.

This target should be reached by 2020, which isn’t that far off and would see a huge 200,000 tonnes of sugar being cut from food!

However, health officials have also set a goal for companies this year, which could see many of your favourite products have five per cent less sugar in them by the start of 2018.

According to officials, companies can tackle the amount of sugar in foods by removing it, changing product sizing or developing healthy products, so we’ll just have to see what route they choose to take. Although it’s fair to assume that some much-loved food items will undergo a bit of a transformation.

The targets come after research that found children are eating three times as much sugar as they should be on a daily basis. This can lead to health issues in the long-run, including diabetes and heart disease, as well as meaning they don’t get into good food habits.

On top of this, excess sugar can also result in rapid weight gain and obesity. This is a very real problem at the moment, as one in five children are classed as overweight or obese when they start primary school. The problem gets worse in secondary school, with one in three children being classed the same way at age 11.

Chief nutritionist at Public Health England, Dr Alison Tedstone, said: “Tackling the amount of sugar we eat is not just a healthy thing to do, but an issue of inequality for many families.

“If businesses achieve these guidelines, 200,000 tonnes of sugar could be removed from the UK market per year by 2020.”

It isn’t just big food manufacturers who need to get busy slashing sugar levels in their products, as cafes, restaurants and fast food eateries will also be subject to the same targets.

A total of nine food categories will have recommended sugar levels that are 20 per cent lower than the average. These include chocolate, ice cream, cakes, biscuits, breakfast foods, yoghurts, puddings and sweet spreads.

With so many sugar alternatives now available, this could mean that your favourite snacks don’t change that much, although we’ll have to wait and see what this all means for our sneaky sweet treats.

If you want to cut down on sugar in your own cooking or just try something new, keep an eye on our food and cooking blogs for delicious meal ideas that could totally transform what you create in the kitchen.