In the lead up to Easter the consumption of Cadbury Creme Eggs has begun - they are only available from 1 January till Easter each year.

But alongside the increase in consumption is the annual discussion about just how much sugar is in each egg.

On the Cadbury website it explains that every 40g egg contains 177 calories and 26.5g of sugar.

The NHS states that adults should consume no more than 30g of free sugars a day.

Children aged between seven and 10 are advised not to consume more than 24g of free sugars a day, while children aged between four and six are recommended not to consume more than 19g of free sugars a day.

Free sugars, the World Health Organisation and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation outlines, are “all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook, or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juices”.

Therefore, when children and adults eat a Creme Egg, they are consuming more than or just under their recommended daily intake of sugar.

In February 2018, a woman shared a post on Facebook page The Little Red Hut Home & Gifts placing a Creme Egg next to a pile of sugar to demonstrate just how much sugar goes into making the Cadbury chocolate.

“Warning, may upset Creme Egg lovers,” the post states. “...this amount of sugar in ONE [Creme Egg]?? Surely not... crikey!”

Several Twitter users have expressed their shock over the sugar content of Creme Eggs.

“Gutted!!! This much sugar in a Creme Egg,” one person wrote.

“This is how much sugar is in one little Creme Egg, imagine that,” someone else said. “No more nice teeth for u [sic].”

Another person said that while they “love” Creme Eggs, they find the sugar content of the confectionery item “shocking”.

“Wowsers! That’s A LOT of sugar,” they remarked.

Last year, Heinz and Cadbury collaborated to create the “Heinz [Seriously] Good Cadbury Creme Egg Mayo”, a product many initially believed to be an April Fool’s joke.

Click here to discover what The Independent thought when we taste tested the unusual concoction.