Mars U.K. threw down a big fat challenge to rival chocolate makers in the United Kingdom last week when they announced a newer, skinnier version of their namesake candy bar and three other of their most popular confections. Mars (not Martian!) people who wear white lab coats spent more than 40-thousand man hours figuring out how to make every bite of a Mars Bar, Snickers, Milky Way and Topic candies taste the same, smell the same, look the same and even feel the same, only with 15 per cent less saturated fat.
If that “unprecedented scientific achievement” isn’t mind-blowing enough, they’ve challenged all other chocolate candy makers in the neighborhood to do the same. Mars says it’s “an industry-wide call to action” for competitors to follow their lead in reducing their products’ saturated fat content. Them are tough words from a big company that makes a lot of sweet goodies for a lot of people who probably won’t notice any difference, whether or not they’ve heard this news.
I contacted Hershey’s and Nestle’s to get their reactions, but my phone calls had not been returned by deadline for this piece.
Fat is money. Isn’t it? Mars invested the less fatty version, also framing the project in terms of fives years, and the clincher, €10-million (Euros) which, being a bit generous, rounds up in U.S. dollars to almost $13-million. Sure, this is nice of Mars U.K. to watch over its market, to make sure we all don’t collapse from consuming too much of their good thing. Aside from losing their market to thick-walled arteries, what’s the payoff for Mars? This sounds like one of the spreadsheet devotees figured out that taking the fat out of the kitchen will put more of it in boardroom.
“It’s not as simple as that,” said Marlene Machute, Mars, Inc. representative who kindly returned my phone call. “Of course we’ve always tried to provide the best products using the most cost effective means available. That’s true for any manufacturer. But this is a genuine concern of consumers today. It has needed to be addressed and we’ve taken the lead in doing that.” Machute points out the U.K. has N.H.S., its version of the FDA in the U.S., setting and enforcing nutritional standards. So, there’s that. Even so, the company touts a healthier product, averaging 30 to 45 per cent less fat per 100 grams than the its top 25 competitors.
Mars offers us even more vivid imagery in tonnage, proudly pointing out 15 per cent less saturated fat per each bar consumed every year in the U.K. amounts to 600 tons. Now we’re talking. This could be a monument prominently displayed amidst a (chocolate?) fountain in downtown Fat City.
Ever lived off the fat of the land? Here’s your chance. The new stuff hits the shelves and vending machines beginning the first day of September. That’s right. You have until Wednesday to stock up, to hoard the old fatty versions, and only if you live in the U.K.
Article first published as Mars Attacks Saturated Fats on Technorati.
