The Cheerios and Shreddies maker said the drive is to part of its commitment to make its cereals healthier, and will see around 225 million teaspoons of sugar being removed from its UK and Irish brands by the end of 2018.
The move has been welcomed by Public Health England (PHE) who believe it will encourage other companies to make reductions.
However, Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE said there is still a long way to go to get UK companies to meet the Government’s voluntary 20% target by 2020.
Committed to healthy breakfasts
According to Gharry Eccles, regional VP of Cereal Partners Worldwide, Nestlé will achieve this drop by reformulating many of its recipes to reduce sugar and salt and increase levels of whole grain content.
“Offering consumers healthier cereals is one of our top priorities and we are determined to make breakfast even better for everyone,” he said.
Lower sugar, higher fiber, no artificial colors or flavors
In November 2016, Nestlé was accused by WASH (World Action on Salt and Health) of feeding cereal eaters with excessive amounts of sugar and salt.
However, the Swiss-based company said it has already cut sugar content by around 15% in breakfast cereal brands sold in the UK since 2010.
Eccles added its cereals also contained 3,600 more tons of whole grain in 2016 than they did in 2003; and will be 100% free from artificial flavours and colours by the end of 2017.