Nestlé UK and Ireland has unveiled Milkybar Wowsomes, the first chocolate bar in the world to use Nestlé’s sugar-reduction technique.

Nestlé researchers made a scientific breakthrough when they transformed the structure of sugar through a newly developed process using only natural ingredients. Inspired by candy floss, experts created aerated, porous particles of sugar that dissolve more quickly in the mouth. This allows someone to perceive the same level of sweetness as before while consuming less sugar.

With the help of this new technology, Milkybar Wowsomes has 30% less sugar than similar chocolate products and contains no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colours or flavourings. Milkybar Wowsomes has milk as its number one ingredient, contains crispy oat cereal pieces, is a source of fibre and is gluten free. The range has products in a number of different sizes for different occasions and the largest sized bars are 18g and have 95 calories each.

Stefano Agostini, CEO of Nestlé UK & Ireland, said: “It is with great pride that the UK and Ireland becomes the first market in the world to use this exciting technology to create such a great tasting confectionery product. We have an unrivalled research and development network and the experts at our product technology centre in York have been instrumental in this breakthrough. Teams across our UK business and around the world have been working incredibly hard to make this launch a reality.

“We announced earlier this month that we have taken out more than 60 billion calories and 2.6 billion teaspoons of sugar from across our food and drink portfolio in the last three years. A new product like Milkybar Wowsomes introduces greater choice and allows parents to treat their children with chocolate that tastes great but has less sugar. We are demonstrating how we can, and will, contribute to a healthier future and that we take our public health responsibilities very seriously.”