Mars Bars, KitKats, And Dairy Milk Chocolates To Get Smaller In New Sugar Crackdown

[6Foot2]

Link 1: Mars bars, KitKats and Dairy Milk chocolates to get smaller in new sugar crackdown

 

KitKat, Dairy Milk and Mars are among major brands planning to cut the size of their chocolate bars to meet government targets on reducing sugar.

 

The move will avoid the manufacturers being named and shamed in a series of Public Health England reports on child obesity, the first of which will be published in March...

 

Link 2: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/176620-toblerone-changes.html

[elsiegee40]

However, prices will probably not decrease.

 

This has all to do with healthy eating and everything to do with profit.

 

Cynical? Moi?

[JonThompson]

However, prices will probably not decrease.

 

This has all to do with healthy eating and everything to do with profit.

 

Cynical? Moi?

 

Nope. Your spot on.

[DJ-1701]

Firms are currently under pressure to reduce the amount of sugar in their products, and while many high-sugar products such as fizzy drinks, breakfast cereals and yoghurts can be reformulated using artificial sweeteners, chocolate makers complain that this ruins the taste.

 

This got me... some people can't have sweeteners at least some of the mainly used ones... I have to carefully look at the ingredients if getting something for my mum. It's crazy how many items have removed sugar in favour of sweetener already and now they want to tax sugary substances.

 

Won't someone please think of the children people with food intolerances...

[Arthur]

This has all to do with healthy eating and everything to do with profit.

I agree. When I was a kid I don't remember child obesity being as much of a problem as it is now, yet chocolate bars were a lot larger.

 

 

It won't be long until the regular-sized Mars bars are not much bigger than the "fun" size bars. It's getting ridiculous!

[MatthewL]

There is nothing to them as it is now so making them smaller will be criminal.

 

What about those who are ill and often need sugar boosts from time to time.

 

Sod the Government, companies are told what they can and cannot do these days it shouldn't be like that. It's not had any affect over the years, maybe they should do something to get kids outside if they are concerned they are getting over weight rather that sitting in from of the TV.

[elsiegee40]

There is nothing to them as it is now so making them smaller will be criminal.

 

What about those who are ill and often need sugar boosts from time to time.

 

Sod the Government, companies are told what they can and cannot do these days it shouldn't be like that. It's not had any affect over the years, maybe they should do something to get kids outside if they are concerned they are getting over weight rather that sitting in from of the TV.

 

Nah. The ingredients and other costs have become more expensive and profits smaller.

 

Reduce the size of the bars, claim it's a healthy eating initiative and let the government and/or EU take the blame.

[6Foot2]

With chocolate bars getting smaller all the time there is always the slice 'n' share option:

 

 

[elsiegee40]

2015 article on the changing size of chocolate bars

[2ilent8cho]

If they put artificial sweetener in their bars i won't buy them. I won't buy low fat or diet versions of anything and i have not for 7 years and i'm the thinest i've ever been now, yet when i was consuming the low fat sugar free crap i was forever dieting and overweight. In fact i found that if i have a diet drink like diet coke i go on a mad binge shortly after as i get extreme sweet cravings from it, yet if i have normal coke, i'm satisfied. So a normal can of coke at 135 calories a few times a month, or a diet coke at 1 calorie then a mega chocolate or buscuit binge at 1000 calories. I wonder which is worse.......

 

Obesity seems to have become worse the more diet products they make. Maybe people should learn to have normal products in moderation and stop consuming crap version pumped full of chemicals like Aspartame.

[witch]

If they put artificial sweetener in their bars i won't buy them. I won't buy low fat or diet versions of anything and i have not for 7 years and i'm the thinest i've ever been now, yet when i was consuming the low fat sugar free crap i was forever dieting and overweight. In fact i found that if i have a diet drink like diet coke i go on a mad binge shortly after as i get extreme sweet cravings from it, yet if i have normal coke, i'm satisfied. So a normal can of coke at 135 calories a few times a month, or a diet coke at 1 calorie then a mega chocolate or buscuit binge at 1000 calories. I wonder which is worse.......

 

Obesity seems to have become worse the more diet products they make. Maybe people should learn to have normal products in moderation and stop consuming crap version pumped full of chemicals like Aspartame.

 

That's really interesting - I shall monitor this when I next have a diet Coke - I don't like the taste of the full fat stuff. MrwITch is trying to avoid artificial sweeteners as they cause bloating for him.

As for choc bars getting smaller - saves the company money. Nothing to do with sugar or health!

[sted]

If they put artificial sweetener in their bars i won't buy them. I won't buy low fat or diet versions of anything and i have not for 7 years and i'm the thinest i've ever been now, yet when i was consuming the low fat sugar free crap i was forever dieting and overweight. In fact i found that if i have a diet drink like diet coke i go on a mad binge shortly after as i get extreme sweet cravings from it, yet if i have normal coke, i'm satisfied. So a normal can of coke at 135 calories a few times a month, or a diet coke at 1 calorie then a mega chocolate or buscuit binge at 1000 calories. I wonder which is worse.......

 

Obesity seems to have become worse the more diet products they make. Maybe people should learn to have normal products in moderation and stop consuming crap version pumped full of chemicals like Aspartame.

i believe i read somewhere (and at this point cant remember where) that the problem is your body has evolved to know what sugar is and what to do with it whereas it has no idea what to make of sugar substitute so while it tastes nice your body dosent think its had sugar so you "crave" sugar even though you dont need it because it dosent know wtf the fake sugar is or what to do with it

[CAM]

I changed my diet about a month ago to increase the amount of fruit and veg that I eat in place of biscuits, chocolate and sweets. They tend to provide me with enough natural sugars and someone even commented that I've lost a bit of weight.

 

Crisps were replaced with flat-breads and crackers. Chocolate bars with quiche and salad features in every sandwich I make (plus cucumber when I can get hold of it). Cheese also features in each lunch. Not only has my grocery bill come down but I've been making smarter food choices.

 

Of course, my recent attempt at making a healthy curry went horribly wrong and ended up an extra huge portion of spicy mashed potato. Somehow.

[HarryMonkey]

American article but relevant about zero calorie drinks ...

 

Why You Should Stop Drinking Diet Soda - Health.com

[LincolnE]

I actually kind of agree with this logic, to be honest...

 

Times have changed, people will naturally say "this is purely about profit" and sure, I'd agree with them...

 

At the same time, however, I still think that there is stuff we can do as a nation to help with sugar. Excessive sugar is going to cause more health issues going forward.

 

(I'm 26, I remember 10 years ago during school with the Tuck Shops, me and my friends would go through 3-4 chocolate bars a day with a similar number of cans of coke)... Actually, I remember sixth form drinking a 1l bottle of energy drink a day, as did everyone else in my class. Looking back, that was 110g of sugar a day just from a single drink.

 

You only have to look around the classrooms at lunch to see kids bringing in sweets, fizzy drinks and the like, we've got kids who come in every morning with huge bags of cakes from gregs they got on the way to school...

Edited February 6, 2017 by LincolnE

[mavhc]

Just drink water, but don't buy bottled water.

 

If you want a bit of chocolate buy a chocolate biscuit.

[Duranis]

American article but relevant about zero calorie drinks ...

 

Why You Should Stop Drinking Diet Soda - Health.com

 

Sorry but that is complete BS. I didn't get past the second page where it states that artificial sweeteners trigger insulin production as this is just a down right lie. Some quack is trying to sell a book and that is all that link is about.

 

(Sorry not a personal attack but this kind of carp annoys me).

[Zer0]

(I'm 26, I remember 10 years ago during school with the Tuck Shops, me and my friends would go through 3-4 chocolate bars a day with a similar number of cans of coke)... Actually, I remember sixth form drinking a 1l bottle of energy drink a day, as did everyone else in my class. Looking back, that was 110g of sugar a day just from a single drink.

 

You only have to look around the classrooms at lunch to see kids bringing in sweets, fizzy drinks and the like, we've got kids who come in every morning with huge bags of cakes from gregs they got on the way to school...

 

I remember all of this too (similar age). At high school we had ice cream vans on the school ground, burgers, pizzas, chips, pop, crisps for lunch (all before Jamie Oliver and his healthy eating scheme). But I look back and there weren't many fat kids. And there wasn't in primary school where it was sweets all the time.

 

It's nothing to do with sugar (even though I won't argue it's a factor), but look back and see how many kids used to play in the street and school playground no matter the weather. Now kids are inside all the time at school. Oh, it's spitting a bit? Wet lunch inside. Bit cold? Inside. Health and Safety has a lot to do with it. You can't do anything without it being a risk. And then the kids get home from school and play video games, uses their expensive phones they have had bought to play Angry birds.

 

People aren't active enough to balance their weight. I used to eat loads of sweets, but I also used to play outside most evenings and weekends. You can cut out sugar as much as you like, but if you're eating more calories than you're burning, you'll put on weight. It's as simple as that.

[LincolnE]

I remember all of this too (similar age). At high school we had ice cream vans on the school ground, burgers, pizzas, chips, pop, crisps for lunch (all before Jamie Oliver and his healthy eating scheme). But I look back and there weren't many fat kids. And there wasn't in primary school where it was sweets all the time.

 

It's nothing to do with sugar (even though I won't argue it's a factor), but look back and see how many kids used to play in the street and school playground no matter the weather. Now kids are inside all the time at school. Oh, it's spitting a bit? Wet lunch inside. Bit cold? Inside. Health and Safety has a lot to do with it. You can't do anything without it being a risk. And then the kids get home from school and play video games, uses their expensive phones they have had bought to play Angry birds.

 

People aren't active enough to balance their weight. I used to eat loads of sweets, but I also used to play outside most evenings and weekends. You can cut out sugar as much as you like, but if you're eating more calories than you're burning, you'll put on weight. It's as simple as that.

 

Actually that's quite a good point. I also remember back in the day getting home at 4pm, getting a quick bite to eat then heading off for football or whatever until 7pm dinner time... every lunchtime was filled with football or the like..

[CAM]

Very true, when I moved from a physically repetitive job to a mostly desk-based one I didn't change my diet. I realised a bit late I was putting on a lot of weight once I went up a waist size and was threatening to burst that waistline too!

 

Going down now I am thinking healthier foods to counter my lower exercise.

[2ilent8cho]

I remember all of this too (similar age). At high school we had ice cream vans on the school ground, burgers, pizzas, chips, pop, crisps for lunch (all before Jamie Oliver and his healthy eating scheme). But I look back and there weren't many fat kids. And there wasn't in primary school where it was sweets all the time.

 

It's nothing to do with sugar (even though I won't argue it's a factor), but look back and see how many kids used to play in the street and school playground no matter the weather. Now kids are inside all the time at school. Oh, it's spitting a bit? Wet lunch inside. Bit cold? Inside. Health and Safety has a lot to do with it. You can't do anything without it being a risk. And then the kids get home from school and play video games, uses their expensive phones they have had bought to play Angry birds.

 

People aren't active enough to balance their weight. I used to eat loads of sweets, but I also used to play outside most evenings and weekends. You can cut out sugar as much as you like, but if you're eating more calories than you're burning, you'll put on weight. It's as simple as that.

Now if only the government could understand this... people are just not active enough anymore for the amount of energy they are consuming, yes sugar is a high energy product, but you can get overweight by over eating apples and bananas if you consistently consume enough of them there is only about 10 calories difference between a 2 finger kitkat and a banana , quite often on the TV program super skinny vs super fat , the very underweight skinny person would live on sweets, biscuits and crisps.

[Garacesh]

I think this hits the nail on the head. Diets haven't changed a massive amount, lifestyles have. And rather than respond to this by being more active, the world and its dog are responding by trying to cut caloric intake to match a sedentary lifestyle. I'm guilty of it just the same. You only have to look at the specs in my signature to figure out my podgy butt experiences a lot of sitting.

 

So what's the solution? Well the easy solution on paper is "Get more exercise", but if you can't make exercise actually enjoyable (which it is to some, but is laborious to others) then it doesn't work. I started going to a gym, I bought a treadmill and some weights at home, but I just simply don't enjoy exercising. It bores me. It doesn't feel fulfilling. Kids (used to) go out and play because it was enjoyable. We'd be playing sportsball because we enjoyed the competition. We'd go on a trek for hours because we enjoyed the adventure. But now I'm a boring adult and my midsection shows I don't do any of that any more.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Garacesh

[sparkeh]

Sorry but that is complete BS. I didn't get past the second page where it states that artificial sweeteners trigger insulin production as this is just a down right lie. Some quack is trying to sell a book and that is all that link is about.

 

(Sorry not a personal attack but this kind of carp annoys me).

Yeah totally agree. Also note the "Researchers say sweetners do $BADTHING (but more studies are needed to see if there is a link)" - total nonsense.

[mavhc]

Exercise while watching TV, or go out walking because most TV is terrible. Play Ingress, join a walking group, etc etc

[pcstru]

Sorry but that is complete BS. I didn't get past the second page where it states that artificial sweeteners trigger insulin production as this is just a down right lie.

 

Really? "When study participants drank sucralose, their blood sugar peaked at a higher level than when they drank only water before consuming glucose. Insulin levels also rose about 20 percent higher. So the artificial sweetener was related to an enhanced blood insulin and glucose response."

 

I'd say that (my link) is a reasonable study which shows there is some correlation, even if the cause is not yet understood.