Nestle says it has made a breakthrough in the battle to reduce the sugar content of popular snack foods.
The Swiss confectioner says it has found a way to "structure sugar differently" to use as much as 40 per cent less, a discovery it calls "truly groundbreaking research".
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Professor Julian Cooper, of the Scientific Committee at the Institute of Food Science and Technology, said: "This is good science. A lot of people have been looking at sugar trying to reduce the amount."
He added this would give Nestle products the "halo-effect" - people thinking they can eat more and so choosing its products over rival brands.
Nestle, which makes such products as KitKat and Aero, said it is seeking a patent for the discovery and hopes to roll-out the new sugar across its range in 2018.
As much as 50 per cent of milk chocolate can be sugar, rising to 60 per cent for some white chocolate.
The BBC says Nestle has been reducing sugar in its products since 2007. The UK, among other countries, it is under pressure to go further to tackle rising levels of obesity and diabetes.
As part of a new government crackdown, a sugar tax is being introduced on soft drinks such drinks as Coca Cola. While this will not affect foods, the government has challenged producers to cut sugar by a fifth in five years.
Failure to do so may well lead to more stringent legislative action.