London - You may notice your KitKat looks and tastes different next week.
That’s because Nestlé is cutting out some sugar to help reduce childhood obesity.
Sugar makes up just over a half of a current KitKat – there are five and a half teaspoons in a four-finger bar.
The new KitKat will have packaging highlighting the ‘extra milk and cocoa’ replacing the sugar.
It is part of a wider plan to cut sugar by 10 per cent in products including KitKats by 2018. But while the current four-finger bar has 213 calories, next week’s bars are still thought to contain 209 calories.
Altering a popular product is fraught with risks – fans might object to even small changes in taste and texture. Cadbury suffered a backlash two years ago when it changed the chocolate in Creme Eggs.
Nestlé subsidiary Rowntree’s is also introducing Fruit Pastilles and Randoms with 30 per cent less sugar as of next month.
Nestlé, which makes Aero, Smarties and Quality Street, insists the confectionery will still have ‘the same great taste’.
Fiona Kendrick, head of Nestlé UK and Ireland, said: ‘When we announced that we were removing some of the sugar from our confectionery, the first questions that consumers asked us were, “Are you going to make things smaller?” and “Will it taste the same?” I’m pleased to say that these products are the same size as the ones they are replacing and taste just as good.
"Milk and cocoa has formed the basis of the KitKat recipe ever since it was introduced in 1936 so, while people might have been expecting us to add something else, this is a great example of us using our strength in research and innovation to develop a great recipe that replaces sugar with a bit more of the existing, natural ingredients that people know and love."
Nestlé is looking into how to cut sugar by up to 40 per cent while retaining the taste.