Helen Martin: The benefits of getting rid of our sweet tooth

When UK governments and health bodies demonised fat in our diet, it was left to manufacturers to create low-fat versions '“ using salt and sugar to replace the taste.

Eating grapes between meals is bad for your teeth, dentists say

Now sugar’s the “bad boy”, the mood’s changed. Fruit was believed to be a healthy snack – until dentists revealed last week that even a little bunch of grapes or an apple between meals produces an acid attack on teeth, as well as containing large amounts of natural sugar.

So, the future for manufacturers is chemical sweeteners – which already are deemed a suspicious substitute.

The best solution for us all would be a major campaign to change our palate preferences and that’s not such a challenge.

Stop taking sugar in tea or coffee for a month or two and before long even a half teaspoon in the mug will make you want to spit it out.

If we come to view snacking on sweet things in the same way we came to regard smoking cigarettes, it’s job done.