Chocolate giant Cadbury is close to launching a diet chocolate that has 75 per cent less sugar and fat but tastes the same, bosses claim.
Dirk van de Put, chief executive of the brand’s US owner Mondelez, believes healthier alternatives to chocolate will soon be as common as diet soft drinks.
Cadbury is experimenting with plant-based fibres to cut as much as 75 per cent of sugar and fat.
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Mr van de Put said: “It’s going to be a bit like diet drinks and grow very slowly, but we need to keep it on the market.
“It’s going to take a while before the consumer really takes to that because it still is not quite exactly the same taste – although it is getting close. It’s going to be a very slow build. We have to offer more healthy options, and we’re working hard for that.”
But he criticised anti-obesity laws, which include a “sugar tax” on soft drinks and ban on unhealthy snacks at checkouts.
Mr van de Put said: “Our view is that regulation or taxation doesn’t really work.”
On the checkout snack ban, he said: “I don’t know if it will drive down obesity. I have my doubts.”
Public Health Minister Jo Churchill has previously said: “We want to support everyone to eat healthier foods more regularly and this starts with helping supermarkets and manufacturers promote healthier food choices.”
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