UK’s taste for sweets grows

Britain’s sweet tooth is getting even sweeter, with sales of sugary treats rising by 5 per cent in a year.

A total of 2.9 billion bags, boxes and bars of sweets were sold in the UK in the past 12 months, with family-sized packs said to be behind the rise of 120 million in a year.

The Grocer magazine said “sharing bags” had recently been launched by many suppliers.

At the same time, more people are indulging in what they called “mindless munching” at home, with sweet-eating outside the home decreasing by 16 per cent over the past year.

Matt Willingham, an analyst at market research firm SymphonyIRI, said: “Shoppers appear to be seeing confectionery more as a treat to enjoy with other people or at home.”

However, Dr Marie Read, a health psychologist at Hull University, said the larger-sized bags were “disgraceful” and “tempting people to eat too much”.