It's not every day that breakthroughs like this come around: The food giant Nestlé has found a way to cut out a significant sugar from its chocolate, without messing with the taste. But the really amazing thing is that this isn't a case of artificial sugar. Instead, the company's scientists have changed the physical structure of sugar — and use less of it in the process.
Essentially, the scientists have been able to hollow out the sugar crystals. That makes them dissolve more quickly on your tongue, which allows chocolate-makers to use less sugar to reach the same level of sweetness. Eventually, the company says it will be able to cut up to 40% of the sugar used in its chocolate products.
Although Nestle hasn't started using the technology yet, we can expect to see the first versions of reduced-sugar candy on the market sometime next year. And, according to a press release, the company will begin using the hollow sugar in a wide variety of its products beginning in 2018.
We know that most Americans consume far too much sugar in general, so any attempt to cut it down without sacrificing taste (or introducing new sweetening ingredients that may come with unexpectedly gassy side effects) is appreciated. Still, most of us get our massive sugar fix from sweetened drinks — not candy.
So it's not clear exactly how much this could translate into healthier chocolate or healthier people. Plus, we'd argue that chocolate is, you know, pretty great just the way it is. Still, we're excited to see what other sweet scientific discoveries this will bring.
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