Despite these health concerns, consumers remain reluctant to ditch sugar, however; producers have been cautiously tweaking product recipes.

Tuuli Taimur, senior specialist at the National Institute for Health Development (TAI) told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "The aim of this study is to understand what is happening in the food market, meaning how changes occur over time."
"We would like to steer these changes in a positive direction, meaning that food composition would improve," she added.

A TAI study found the content of salt, sugar, and saturated fatty acids in many food products in Estonia to have risen over the years, as well as a surge in the use of sugar substitutes.

TAI first recorded the composition of nearly 6,000 food products back in 2018.
Four years later, researchers revisited the data, to investigate how the composition of such products had evolved.

One notable trend is a rise in protein or meat content in processed products like sausages, frankfurters, and wieners; while this has its benefits, these have to be set against increasing salt and fatty acids in the same foodstuffs.

"When we say that protein content has increased: People prefer protein-rich products, so it may seem that the frankfurter is a good choice," Taimur said.

"However, if we view it from the content of saturated fatty acids or salt in frankfurters, this makes them not the best choice," she qualified.

By contrast, the sugar content in soft drinks has been falling, following an agreement made some years ago by the beverage industry to do just that – to cut sugar content by 15 percent.

"This commitment has been stuck to," Jaanus Vihand, CEO of A. Le Coq, a major drinks manufacturer, told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

The public have gotten used to the changes too, he added, though identified a generation divide there.

"Estonians today certainly have much lower expectations with regard to sweetness than they did 10 or five years ago," Vihand went on.

"What seems to be a trend, as we have been seeing, sensing and experiencing each day, is that older generations still prefer sugary products," he said.

"Meanwhile, the younger age groups prefer products with sugar substitutes," Vihand continued.

Despite this, producers admit that consumers themselves remain reluctant to give up sugar altogether.

CEO of dairy product firm Tere, Ülo Kivine, said his company plans to reduce sugar content in its products.

"Currently, puddings contain up to 15 grams of sugar per 100 grams," Kivine said.

"But in the future, this amount should not exceed 10 grams," he added.

"We must consider consumer expectations for such a traditional product. We are taking these steps, but it is a longer process, so that consumers do not immediately notice that this is not quite the product they bought a decade ago," Kivine added.

The shift towards sugar substitutes has sparked debate among health advocates too; the argument is that these do not address the root issue of high expectations of sweetness.

Producers note that visible changes on store shelves may give the impression that the era of sweet life in Estonia is over.

However, health advocates and researchers argue that meaningful progress still faces significant hurdles.

A proposed tax on sugary drinks introduced last year was subsequently scrapped.

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