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The BBC has a report on Nestle's press release concerning its recent experiments in materials science. From the press release:
Using only natural ingredients, researchers have found a way to structure sugar differently. So even when much less is used in chocolate, your tongue perceives an almost identical sweetness to before.
The discovery will enable Nestlé to significantly decrease the total sugar in its confectionery products, while maintaining a natural taste.
"This truly groundbreaking research is inspired by nature and has the potential to reduce total sugar by up to 40% in our confectionery," said Stefan Catsicas, Nestlé Chief Technology Officer.
While details of the method are not yet available, the process apparently involves "hollowing out" the sugar crystals so they dissolve faster, thereby increasing perceived sweetness with less total sugar. Nestle is already touting this as a way of achieving some of its publicly announced goals of sugar reduction in its products. Apparently they plan to introduce the new sugar structure in Crunch, Butterfinger, and BabyRuth bars in 2018.
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However, is this actually a useful change for dietary control or to prevent obesity? New York Magazine is skeptical:
This all sounds amazing until you remember that reduced-calorie foods with artificial sweeteners — looking at you, diet soda — can make you eat more by messing with your brain's expectations of how much sustenance it's about to get. Diet soda is particularly bad because it contains zero calories but is still very sweet, though studies in mice suggest that reduced-calorie foods can also increase hunger.
Even if you don't feel hungrier after eating diet chocolate, you might think about the calories you saved and then eat them somewhere else. In playing mad scientist with sugar, snack companies are doing what they think they need to do as customers are trying to eat healthier, but just know that it might not save you any calories in the long run.
While the ultimate effects are speculative for the moment, this latter statement seems to follow the logic around previous studies on artificial sweeteners reported here (such as on sucralose and aspartame).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jelizondo on Saturday December 03 2016, @05:00AM
I have a good friend who just brought me some real, honest chocolate from Oaxaca... Doesn't taste like anything in America or Europe, not even Belgian which I consider superior to Italian...
If you can, get some real chocolate from Oaxaca or Tabasco (southern Mexico), no sugar, no shit, just pure chocolate. Hard to bite into, as it is meant to be made into a drink(*) and not eaten directly but glorious even if you break a tooth trying to eat it.
I just realized my friend is a dentist... Maybe he wants me to break a tooth?
(*) You are supposed to dissolve the chocolate with hot water or hot milk and then drink it. Fuck hot cocoa, this stuff was actually banned by the Catholic Church!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 03 2016, @05:59AM
If you can, get some real chocolate from Oaxaca or Tabasco (southern Mexico), no sugar, no shit, just pure chocolate.
Total bullshit. This site [vivaoaxacafolkart.com] sells Oaxaca chocolate. All of them have sugar in them. Every single chocolate bar has sugar listed in the ingredients and the nutrition information.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday December 03 2016, @10:34AM
Wrong. [vivaoaxacafolkart.com]
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Saturday December 03 2016, @06:44PM
I've had Oaxaca chocolate in Oaxaca. Not all of it has sugar in it, but I do like it with a little sweetness.
But no matter how you prefer it, Oaxaca chocolate will get you high. It's chocolate on an HNL (whole 'nother level).
You are still welcome on my lawn.