Everyone has their favourite, the bosses are Haribo Rhubarb and Custard, he insists on trying a few from each batch for “quality” but really we all know what his game is! If your favourites used to be strawberry bonbons sweets, or how about classic cola cubes, or pear drops, or chewing nuts – we have them all. Gymnema leaf extract is the active ingredient in the Sugar X mouth spray which I unwrap, and which according to the attached press release "has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine to temporarily reduce the sense of taste for the tongue." Gone are the days of penny mixtures, cola bottles and pear drops, today’s new generation of sweets are super sugary and super sour. Health Editor Madeleine Brindley explains why dental professionals are so concerned

A NEW generation of super-sour sweets, masquerading as brain tissue, human blood and even toxic waste has prompted concerns for children’s teeth. Ensuring your main meals contain a sensible portion of quality carbohydrate, like wholegrain bread or sweet potato, is the first step to beating sugar cravings. That’s because these foods supply a steady stream of energy, which keeps blood sugar levels stable. It’ll also pay to choose naturally sweet foods like fruit or yoghurt to tame a sweet tooth, along with simply being a little more mindful when you doenjoy that chocolate bar or scoop of ice cream.” Does Sugar X work? Got a sweet tooth? We asked a dietitian to weigh in on how effective this craving-busting solution is, and if it's good for you in the long-term. The Cardiff University School of Dentistry is hoping to set up a postgraduate project to research the sweet phenomenon and study their exact impact on children’s teeth. Some pretty interesting products land on our desks at body+soul, so it takes something out of the ordinary to pique the interest of the entire team. But when something claims to cure us of our sugar addiction, and instantly at that, we lean in for a closer look. It's not the first sugar-craving-zapping spray that we've come across, but we're keen to put it to the test.A quarter of sweets which is 113g in new money was an easy way to weigh out treats on the old fashioned scales as this was the unit of measurements they used. Our director used to run an old fashioned sweet shop in the early 00s and had a classic old fashioned scale in the shop. Can I Get My Candy Delivered? Some of these novelty sweets contain a double hit of sugar – one variety of novelty sweet, modelled on a baby’s bottle, consists of a hard candy teat and a bottle of sherbet. One of the strangest products on the market is the Nose Hose candy – a plastic nose designed to be worn on the face. Once the cap is removed, a sugary gloop resembling mucus drips out into the mouth. Wanting to get an expert to weigh in on the long-term effects of this seemingly magical mouth spray, I asked body+soul's resident dietitian Melissa Meyer her thoughts on Sugar X. She, in her infinite wisdom, said "Although it sounds like a good idea, it’s not something I’d recommend. While it might be safe, I think retraining your taste buds naturally over time - rather than masking the taste of sugar - would leave you far better off in the long haul."

It further explains, "Gymnema leaf extract, notably the peptide ‘Gurmarin’, has been found to interfere with the ability of the taste buds on the tongue to taste sweet and bitter." The spray is a dark olive colour (careful, it will stain your crisp white tee-shirt, as we discovered), and tastes herbaceous, tangy and slightly medicinal. Not pleasant, but not totally awful either. Many of these products have been created by merchandising them in movie tie-ins such as the Minions edition of Haribo sweets and their Smurfs range. Wide range of Kids Sweets Experts are concerned many of these sweets could encourage tooth decay or dental erosion because of their sugar and acid content – one such sweet manufacturer was forced to amend its recipe after children suffered burnt and blistered mouths. Mrs Morgan, who also monitors the Welsh Government’s Designed to Smile programme to improve children’s dental health, said: “One of the most unexpected things we found was their concept of a ‘treat’. In my day, a treat was something you had once a week. Now it seems to be once, even twice a day. This is something oral health and nutrition professionals need to be aware of when they advise parents that sweets should only be a treat.” Our tasty treats are from the biggest names in the business – Haribo, Barratts, Swizzels, Cadbury, Galaxy and many many more!Due to the dam EU we all went metic in this meant that you could no longer sell aquarterof sweets anymore and everything went into 100g / 200g weigh outs instead and this killed off a quarter of sweets sadly. A quarter of a pound or a half pound measure was the most typical requests for any shop keeper and this was the standard method of weighing out your tasty treats. This was the way to do it right up till the late 90s when we all went metric. Children Sweets are generally products that have a novelty theme to it, from wholesale sweets shaped like a tiger or a shark. One of the biggest brands of novelty sweets would have to be Haribo as they have many iconic sweets such as their friendship rings and their gummy bears. Kids sweets advertising