Is reduced sugar confectionery a good thing?

A media release issued by food industry giant Nestle detailing the company's plans to reduce the sugar content of its confectionery was met with mixed reviews from nutrition spokespeople last week. The main feeling was that improving a product that is 100% bad still makes the product bad.

While confectionery is never going to be on a list of healthy food options, the reality is that confectionery is not going anywhere either. If you consider that when a company the size of Nestle decides to change the nutrient composition of their products, it ultimately has an impact on the health of millions of people.

There is also a growing body of scientific evidence to show that the human brain can become primed to want increasingly sweeter food items. So, based on this reducing the sweetness of confectionery will be of benefit from population health perspective.

No one is saying that confectionery is good but at least a changed formulation may result in confectionery that is lower in calories than previously.

Now, if food companies then advertise the confectionery more in order to increase consumption; then we have a problem :)