Nestle says it will cut sugar in its candies with new structural formulation

Nestle says its new candy will be just as sweet-- with much less sugar.

Nestle has some sweet news for candy fans looking to cut down on sugar consumption.

On Wednesday, the company announced a new method scientists have developed for restructuring sugar, allowing for reduced amounts to be used in its candy recipes.

The new sugar will be introduced in products in 2018 but more details about the product are coming next year, the New York Times reports.

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But is Nestle's reformulated sugar the real deal or just a new synthetic substitute?

“It is sugar,” said Nestle’s chief technology officer Stefan Catsicas, “but it is assembled differently so it can disassemble easily in your mouth with less going into your gastrointestinal tract.”

Without providing any nifty gritty specifics, Catsicas compared a normal crystal of sugar to a shoe box, where the box is made of sugar and everything inside it is also made of sugar. But the new version will be processed to have the same exterior but less on the inside, allowing it to dissolve in the mouth and thus preventing more sugar from entering the stomach.

Nestle will initially use the new sugar to reduce the amounts in its confectionery lines by up to 40 percent, said Catsicas. The company may also sell the new sugar to other food companies for use in their products. But the new version “isn’t something that can be mixed into your coffee.” It also won’t be used to sweeten soda, the company said.

The new sugar modification comes as food companies pledge to cut more fat, salt, sugar and artificial additives from their products. Nestle has already developed a way to reduce fat in ice creams via their “slow-churned” line.

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“It’s all about thinking 'how can I expose my sensory system to the taste I’m looking for but with the minimum of that ingredient?'– and without replacing it with something else,” Catsicas told the Times.

Nestle is currently in the process of pursuing patents for the reformulated sugar.