There is good news for chocolate lovers concerned about packing on the pounds: Nestlé claims it has found a way to reduce the sugar in chocolate by some 40 percent without changing the taste.
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Scientists at the massive Swiss food company have discovered a process that alters the structure of sugar and tricks the tongue into thinking the chocolate is sweeter than it really is, BBC News says.
Sugar content in chocolate can be drastically different depending on whether it is white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate. White usually has the highest sugar level at about 60 percent, the BBC says, while milk chocolate is usually about 50 percent. Dark chocolate can have very low sugar content.
Nestlé is planning to patent the process it has developed, the BBC says, and start introducing it into its manufacturing in 2018. The New York Times quoted the company’s chief technology officer as saying that the breakthrough sugar might eventually be sold to other companies.
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The Nestlé news will be of little comfort to sugar investors concerned about too much supply and lackluster demand. On midday Friday, sugar futures were dropping to four-month lows, with raw sugar for March delivery down 1.9 percent to 19 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, according to Dow Jones.
