“Breakthrough” as Nestlé alters the structure of sugar to make healthier chocolate

INNOVATION: The Milkybar Wowsome

Nestlé has used a technique that involves the restructuring of sugar to produce a new chocolate bar. 

The technique, inspired by candy floss, creates aerated, porous particles of sugar that dissolve more quickly in the mouth. This allows someone to perceive the same level of sweetness as before while consuming less sugar.

It has been wheeled out in the form of Milkybar Wowsomes which have 30 per cent less sugar than similar chocolate products and contain no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colours or flavourings.

Stefano Agostini, CEO of Nestlé UK & Ireland said: “It is with great pride that the UK and Ireland becomes the first market in the world to use this exciting technology to create such a great tasting confectionery product.

“We have an unrivalled research and development network and the experts at our Product Technology Centre in York have been instrumental in this breakthrough. Teams across our UK business and around the world have been working incredibly hard to make this launch a reality.

“We announced earlier this month that we have taken out more than 60 billion calories and 2.6 billion teaspoons of sugar from across our food and drink portfolio in the last three years. 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. We are demonstrating how we can, and will, contribute to a healthier future and that we take our public health responsibilities very seriously.”

It has taken little over a year for Nestlé teams in Switzerland, the UK and the Czech Republic to take the scientific and technological breakthrough and turn it into a new confectionery product. Milkybar Wowsomes will appear in stores across the UK and Ireland in the coming weeks.

While the new technology is the most obvious new development for the brand, this is also the first time in Milkybar’s 81-year history that it has contained both milk and white chocolate in the same bar.

Jas Scott de Martinville, Global Lead for Nestlé Confectionery Research & Development (and Head of Nestlé’s Confectionery Product Technology Centre in York, UK) said:

“The ambition behind Milkybar Wowsomes was enormous and it has been a real challenge for us to get to this stage.

“It is very rewarding to launch a great tasting product knowing all of the hard work that went into this development. We will continue our work and take this technology further so that we can deliver more confectionery products that taste great and are better for our consumers.”