Cadbury shrinks size of Christmas selection box Fudge bars to ‘tackle childhood obesity'

‘We want to continue to help support parents’, says confectionery company

Cadbury has reduced the size of its selection box Fudge bars by 12 per cent in a bid to tackle childhood obesity.

Mondelez, the owner of the confectionary giant, confirmed that the chocolate bars would now be 22g instead of 25g to ensure they do not exceed 100 calories.

A spokesperson for Cadbury tells The Independent: "This year’s Cadbury Santa selection box includes Cadbury Fudge and it is now one of our products under 100 calories. We are committed to playing a part in tackling childhood obesity and have proactively provided consumers with portion control options since 2014, introducing a100 calorie cap on chocolate and wider biscuit products that are typically bought by parents for their children.

The weight of the chocolate inside Cadbury’s £2 selection boxes has dropped for the second year running, from 169g in 2018 to 150g.

In 2017, the chocolate giant removed Fudge bars from its Christmas selection packs altogether, replacing them with the Dairy Milk Oreo bar.

However, the move was reversed in 2019 after customers complained to Cadbury, with some claiming the company had “ruined” Christmas.  

In June, Cadbury announced it would also be shrinking the size of its Curly Wurly and Chomp bars in order to bring them in under 100 calories.

Mondelez MD Louise Stigant previously told The Grocer that limiting portions was “the right approach in terms of helping parents control calories when wanting to treat their children”.

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“We feel strongly about playing our part in tackling childhood obesity and are focusing on the areas where we can make the greatest impact,” she said.

In 2018, the company launched Dairy Milk bars that contain 30 per cent less sugar as part of industry efforts to tackle the obesity crisis.

Earlier this year, the government launched a new weight-loss campaign across the UK in an attempt to prepare the country for the second wave of coronavirus.

The campaign – unveiled as part of the government’s Obesity Strategy – encouraged adults to introduce changes that would help them work towards a healthier weight, with a range of free tools and apps supporting people to eat better, drink less alcohol and get active.

The Better Health initiative was introduced after studies showed that Covid-19 disproportionately affects overweight people.

Data from Public Health England found that almost two-thirds of adults are classified as being overweight or obese when measured by the body mass index (BMI) metric.

You can read more about the link between being overweight or obese and coronavirus here.