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Mars puts Snickers bars on a diet-an agreement with Michelle Obama
WWLP via CNN ^ | February 16, 2012 | WWLP.com

Posted on 02/19/2012 8:47:22 PM PST by sybilll

Will drop any portion exceeding 250 calories Updated: Friday, 17 Feb 2012, 6:41 AM EST Published : Thursday, 16 Feb 2012, 7:29 PM EST

Jacque Wilson (CNN) - Have you ever stood near the checkout of a grocery store and stared at the rack of chocolate bars, debating whether anyone would judge you for buying the king-size?

You know the regular size is enough to satisfy your craving, but the bigger candy bar is only 40 cents more and it just... Looks. So. Good.

Worry no more - Mars, Inc. is going taking that decision out of your hands. The company that produces M&Ms, 3 Musketeers, Snickers and Twix bars has vowed to stop shipping any Mars chocolate products that exceed 250 calories per portion by the end of 2013.

Right now a regular Snickers bar has 280 calories and each Twix cookie bar has 130 calories (but let's be honest, who eats just one?).

Mars will most likely stop producing its king-sized candy bars all together since the large Snickers bar weighs in at 510 calories.

"We have a responsibility to help our consumers and the pets they love lead healthy lives," Mars said in a statement on its website . "We are committed to making sure the products we offer, and the ingredients they contain, can fit into a balanced diet."

Mars also produces Dove chocolate bars, multiple kinds of pet food, several gum brands and Uncle Ben's rice products.

This move is part of an agreement Mars signed with Michelle Obama's Partnership for a Healthier America. Mars is part of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a group of 16 manufacturers who have pledged to reduce 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015 through lower-calorie options and reducing portion sizes.

"America's food and beverage companies have a strong track record of innovation and providing consumers with healthier products," said Lisa Gable, executive director of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation in a press release. "The Foundation's member companies are giving Americans tools to reduce calorie consumption."

Mars' statement goes on to note that the company has removed 97% of the trans fat in their chocolate products and plans to "reduce sodium levels in all Mars Food products globally by 25 percent by 2015."

Mars has not addressed the total number of fat grams in each product or the amount of sugar - factors most experts agree play a big role in weight gain, especially for children.

You can check out the nutrition info for Mars' products at www.marshealthyliving.com .


TOPICS: Food
KEYWORDS: snickers
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To: Bob

Partnership for a Healthier America
the following groups are thanked as Founders:

The California Endowment
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Kaiser Permanente
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Nemours
Alliance for a Healthier Generation (founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation)


41 posted on 02/19/2012 10:28:07 PM PST by kcvl
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To: sybilll

Partnership for a Healthier America
Brynn Barnett, 202-797-6140
news@aHealthierAmerica.org


42 posted on 02/19/2012 10:33:39 PM PST by kcvl
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To: GoldnGate

Plus they are not going to be as satisfied if there is not the right proportion of salt. Stop them before they ruin everything.


43 posted on 02/19/2012 10:33:39 PM PST by firebrand
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To: sybilll

Government Snickers? Another company I’m through with for life.


44 posted on 02/19/2012 10:42:39 PM PST by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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To: sybilll

Sometimes when they ruin things you can’t go back and fix them easily. As with the pork chop. This is my second pork chop post on FR. They took away the marbling in the interest of making it lower-fat and you now get a big piece of asbestos which all the applesauce in the world will not help.

I was in the restaurant of a famous chef about a year ago and saw pork chops on the menu. I debated my choice, but couldn’t resist finding out how he made them. They were tiny (PETA, weep and moan, these were probably piglets and locally raised “artisan” animals), tender, and partly encased in an extra-buttery pastry crust that complemented them beautifully.

Sad what we have to do to make up for the adventures of culinary ignoramuses.


45 posted on 02/19/2012 10:48:47 PM PST by firebrand
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To: firebrand

Looks like she should mind her own business and stop lecturing everyone else...

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fC5cxrdDB9yK?__site=daylife&q=Michelle+obama


46 posted on 02/19/2012 10:49:43 PM PST by kcvl
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To: GoldnGate
Not me I am switching to Ice Cream now but will avoid Ben and Jerrys. Anything the MooMoo dictates will make me go thee other direction.
47 posted on 02/19/2012 10:54:26 PM PST by funfan (and his crew)
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To: XenaLee

I’m down with that.


48 posted on 02/19/2012 11:09:08 PM PST by Irenic
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To: sybilll

This isn’t exactly new. I’ve seen candy bars decrease in size over the years. The manufacturers are doing it to keep the prices the same as the contents’ costs have increased. Just like spaghetti sauce (30 down to 24 ounces), peanut butter (18 to about 16), ice cream (2 quarts down to 1.5), and now orange juice cartons (look closely—only 59 ounces now) have done.

Now, they have an excuse—they’re cutting calories!


49 posted on 02/19/2012 11:10:05 PM PST by JeffChrz (High-speed rail: supported by elitists too snooty to take the bus.)
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To: libertarian27

Are Mounds, Payday and JuniorMints safe? *fingers crossed*


50 posted on 02/19/2012 11:12:11 PM PST by Irenic
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To: Bob

I sent a message....I wasn’t quite as nice as you....

>i>No more MARS products in THIS household....and we’re telling all our friends and family why, and they will follow suit! We don’t like fascism.


51 posted on 02/19/2012 11:13:46 PM PST by goodnesswins (2012..."We mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor")
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To: Flag_This
>”It was a deal Mars couldn’t refuse”<

Either your signature or your rich milk chocolate will be on that contract.

52 posted on 02/19/2012 11:13:57 PM PST by Kickass Conservative (Liberals, Useful Idiots Voting for Useless Idiots...)
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To: sybilll

Rebel me would say to just by two regular sized Snickers bars and get 560 calories or I’ll just keep buying the six pack for $3 at Wal-Mart and eat as many as I darn well please.


53 posted on 02/19/2012 11:16:33 PM PST by beaversmom
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To: JeffChrz

I just looked at my Blue Bell Ice Cream container and it reads, “Still a 1/2 Gallon (2 QTS)” LOL.


54 posted on 02/19/2012 11:20:58 PM PST by MaxMax
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To: sybilll

America has brought this upon herself (the majority that voted her husband into office) and this is only the tip of the iceberg. When we allowed he Government to take over our health care for us, we gave the Government the power to tell us what to put into our bodes.

This will continue until Obamacare is repealed.


55 posted on 02/19/2012 11:59:01 PM PST by Apparatchik (If you find yourself in a confusing situation, simply laugh knowingly and walk away - Jim Ignatowski)
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To: JeffChrz

Every time I buy a bag of Lay’s potato chips I swear the bag has less in it than the previous bag. I think they cut the size by 1/4 ounce each time and then raise the price. Right now they are $4.59 regular price, which I never pay. The family size is now the size of what a regular bag used to be a few years ago.

Notice the Ritz Cracker box? I thought it looked shorter the other day and then I checked its weight. It used to be exactly one pound for YEARS. Now it is 15.1 ounces, which gives you about 7 crackers less than the pound size. I could go on and on and on....

The real killer of all of this is toilet paper. They’ve shortened the width of the roll so now my toilet paper holder is over an inch longer than the toilet paper. The supposed “double” rolls now look like the old single rolls, which means I am constantly changing them. You would think that it would be smarter and more efficient to put more paper on the roll so they would have fewer cardboard rolls to make, but obviously they don’t care about that. They want to sell you less for more money.


56 posted on 02/20/2012 12:23:13 AM PST by dupree
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To: sybilll

When you buy a large chocolate, you might toss some of it away.

But when you buy a bag of mini bite size chocolates, you eat ten of them.

Yo meeen?


57 posted on 02/20/2012 12:49:08 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper (NEWT GINGRICH 2012)
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To: sybilll

{Sigh} Now they come for my Snickers.


58 posted on 02/20/2012 1:05:42 AM PST by Conservative4Ever (Waiting for the new tagline to download)
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To: Bob

Good note to Mars


59 posted on 02/20/2012 3:59:16 AM PST by hattend (Jesus wants me to make churches pay for abortions. - Barack Obama)
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To: Rembrandt
I still remember when we had a free country.

It's rapidly becoming a distant memory as too many sleep through the creeping statism that the Obama's are inflicting on this country.

60 posted on 02/20/2012 4:03:51 AM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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