But there is good news for chocaholics like me.  Nestlé claims to have found a way of reducing the sugar content of its chocolate by as much as 40% – without relying on artificial sweeteners. The manufacturer says that it has found a way of making “hollow” sugar particles that dissolve faster, and taste as sweet as ordinary sugar.

This is cheering after the almost endless stream of alarming and distressing news we are having to ingest. I would like to give up moderation and all the civilised virtues of Epicureanism and retire to bed and eat Nestlé chocolate for the rest of my life.  We have to have something to live for.