Lidl Ireland has announced it has reduced the sugar content of a range of food items, including snack, lunch and dinner options, by up to 32% ahead of the new school year.

The supermarket said it taken sugar from 25 food products to give parents healthier options to choose from when shopping for their children.

The sugar content of Lidl's Choco Rice has been lowered by 32%, while other popular items such as Caramel Wafer Bars (-27%), Blueberry Yoghurt (-24%), Sweet Jellybeans (-9%) and Organic Ketchup (-11%) have also seen significant sugar reductions.

The changes were made by Lidl in response to the government's Health Ireland initiative, and the company has said it is committed to helping suppliers reduce their sugar content where possible as part of its CSR strategy.

Lidl had set the target to reduce the added sugar content in own brand products by 20% by the end of 2020 focusing primarily on foods that are popular with and consumed by children such as breakfast cereals, spreads, sauces, and sweet confectionery.

In Association with

The chain has also partnered with dietician Orla Walsh, who said: "Irish children are eating too much sugar. As a mother, I understand how easily this can happen.

"Nevertheless, there are a lot of reasons to tackle this head on. Our role as parents is to help children build a varied diet and a healthy relationship with food that they can take into adulthood and pass on to the next generation. If they eat too much sugar now, they are likely to do that as adults.

"This is an issue, as a child’s vitamin and mineral requirements are incredibly high. To meet these nutrient needs the bulk of the foods within the diet need to be higher quality providing lots of what they need, and less of what they currently consume too much of.

"I believe that the commitment by Lidl will support parents in achieving this, without breaking the bank”

(Pic: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie)