According to chocolate giants Nestle, they have made a huge step to lower the amount of sugar in their chocolate by 40 percent but are adamant it won’t compromise the taste.

The Swiss company have produced a ‘new’ sugar by changing the structure of regular sugar crystals in a way that will dissolve easier in the mouth and stimulate taste buds in the same way as normal sugar.

“It is sugar, but it is assembled differently so it can disassemble easily in your mouth with less going into your gastrointestinal tract,” said Dr. Stefan Catsicas, Nestle’s chief technology officer.

According to Catsicas, the more hollow sugar crystals containing less sugar overall aim to dissolve on the tongue and therefore have less entering the digestion process.

Nestle is currently patenting the process and was aiming to make an announcement after receiving official trademark status but leaks within the industry has forced them to highlight what they plan to do. They aim to implement the lower-sugared products by 2018 and potentially use it in all their global confectionary in order to fulfil their 2007 policy guidelines to reduce sugar in their products.

However, the downside is that the new sugar will only be able to be used in chocolate and can’t be added to other products such as sodas. Another negative is the potential cost – while it is a welcome change, the cost of producing the new structured form of sugar could push the process of Nestle products up which leads the industries to question whether consumers will be prepared to pay higher for healthier chocolate.

With the obesity epidemic in full swing, something definitely needs to be done and Nestle aren’t the only company to work on lowering the amount of sugar in their products. Coca Cola are working on a reducing sugar content in their drinks by 2025.