Cereal Partners Worldwide – the cereal joint-venture between Nestlé and General Mills – will cut the sugar content of its products in the UK by 10% by the end of 2018.
In a bid to make its range healthier, Nestlé said the move will cut around 225 million teaspoons of sugar from the UK population’s diet.
The changes will be achieved through a combination of reformulation and by growing the share of lower sugar variants. Since 2010, Nestlé Breakfast Cereals in the UK said it has reduced its average sugar content by 15% across its portfolio.
Nestlé Breakfast Cereals claimed to have worked for over a decade on reducing sugar and salt while increasing levels of whole grain. Nestlé cereals sold in the UK in 2016 contained an additional 3,600 tonnes of whole grain compared with 2003 levels.
Gharry Eccles, UK regional vice president of Cereal Partners Worldwide, said: “We believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day and our cereals provide vitamins, minerals and fibre to the diet. We also know that breakfast cereals can play a part in the efforts to reduce sugar consumption across the nation.
“Offering consumers healthier and tastier cereals is one of our top priorities and we are determined to make breakfast even better for everyone.
“We’ll take every opportunity to drive forward improvements across our range. For example, by the end of this year, our cereals will be free from artificial flavours and colours across our entire product portfolio. Making these improvements is crucial to us offering better choices for our consumers while retaining the same great taste.”
Last year Nestlé claimed to make a ‘major breakthrough’ that could reduce the amount of sugar in its chocolate bars by 40%.
Researchers found a way to structure sugar differently so that consumers’ perceive ‘almost identical sweetness’.
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