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 .
“We have a responsibility to help our consumers and the pets they love lead healthy lives,”
........what?
Commie Candy Company CEO is Michelle 0bama...and all your chocolates belong to her...
Gadzooks when are the companies and CEOS of the nation going to stand up to this thugery?
I have a responsibility to my country not to support any company who caves into nanny government this way.
Less calories as long as they can charge the same price!
Word to michelle obama:
Can you say “WIDE LOAD”!!!
She has no room to talk.
The government has no say what so ever as to what I eat, period.
SO now they will buy two, Mars sells more, consumer spends more to get the previous amount of calories .. the size change doesnt alter the addiction ....
I would bet that this move is more related to the ongoing food inflation that we're seeing everywhere, and less related to Her Majesty.
It was a deal Mars couldn’t refuse.
Ahhh, a convenient spin to tell people when the dog food bag went from 20lb to 14lb.
Precisely why that JagAzz obama will see obamacare repealed....and anything silly that his wife is working on. Complete waste of time. It means nothing. We ain't buying it. Period.
Now it will cost much more to buy 2 whereas the big size was only 40 cents more. Forget saving money by having your kids split one. But why should Micelle Obama understand economies of scale?
Ahhhhh the nanny state, all brought to you by Michelle Obama, who herself looks like a beached whale..maybe SHE should try stuffing her face less and leave us all the hell alone
I still remember when we had a free country.
All right, children can you say opportunistic? Gotta help the bottom line.
I lost 50 lbs. I run about 30 miles a week. I eat at least 1 snickers bar a week. I don’t need a mommy from DC telling me what I can and can’t do.
How about an immediate boycott on Mars products, from this day forward?
Remember the garden she was planting at the White House for the kids?
She was told it was built on top of fill from the Potomac that could be toxic. You never heard of any fruit or anything from that garden.
What a hippo.
Oh good God.
-John Adams
So will they also change the name, from chocolate bars, to chocolate fingers?
Here's the list:
M&MS®, SNICKERS®, DOVE®, GALAXY®, MARS®, MILKY WAY® and TWIX
DOUBLEMINT®, EXTRA®, ORBIT® and 5 chewing gums, SKITTLES® and STARBURST® candies, and ALTOIDS® and LIFESAVERS® mints.
UNCLE BENS®, DOLMIO®, MASTERFOODS®, SEEDS OF CHANGE®, ROYCO®, KAN TONG®, SUZI WAN® and RARIS®.
PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, KITEKAT®, BANFIELD®, CESAR®, NUTRO®, SHEBA®, CHAPPI®, GREENIES® and CATSAN®
She should shut her mouth.
Now that right there is scary.
The First Looter will have us all rationed down to one hand full of rice a day if she can get her way.
It's all about control.
Mars says:
“Ha ha....White House told us to shrink the candy, but not the price....”
“Dear consumer, talk to moochell, not our idea...”
The funds raised in these FReepathons go to pay our current quarter expenses. But we're also going to try to replace some of our older servers and failing equipment this year so we're going to add a little extra to our FReepathon goals. John is estimating ten to fifteen thousand to do this and I'd like to get it all in place and working before the election cycle is fully heated up, so we'll try to bring in a little extra now, if we can, and the rest next quarter.
Jim Robinson
Fascism = communism by proxy.
There is only one real solution for this kind of garbage from companies that get co-opted by the food police.. and that is a total boycott of anything Mars, Inc. Question is, will people not just be sheeple and fall in line.
I will now make it a point to not buy anything they make. I dont even like Mars bars, but there are other things they make that I like.. so oh well.. no more money from me.
Screw this! I’m never going to eat another Mars product as long as I live! And I intend to call Mars and let them know that! The Wookie can kiss my ass too!
Already there my friend. Mars will never pass these lips again!
Earth calling Michelle and the Mars Corporation: People, including children, who want to will now eat two candy bars instead of just one. So what’s next, rationing? Packaging labels similar to tobacco products? A federal registry of candy purchases? Even Orwell didn’t think of that.
This is what happens when idiots are enfranchised.
This is kind of silly.
People prone to eating too much candy aren’t going to stop just because the large size isn’t sold any more.
Personally, I like to buy the tiny candy bars. But whatever size I want to buy should be my choice, not the government’s.
What is it with politicians who think they have the right to control every aspect of other peoples’ lives?
you stumbled upon the real reason.
“part of an agreement Mars signed with Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America”
Puke...

It'll still cost the same, of course.
Subject: I'm going to miss your productsI will miss purchasing your products. Having enjoyed them for the past 60+ years, I never would have expected to be boycotting them.
Your agreement with the Partnership for a Healthier America to reduce your products' sizes has prompted me to take this step. Believe it or not, I am quite capable of deciding what and how much I eat. I neither need, nor want, you or Michelle Obama to "help" me.
GREENIES
At least 13 dogs have died after being fed the top-selling pet treat in the country, owners and veterinarians have told CNN.
The problem comes because the treats, called Greenies, become lodged in a dog’s esophagus or intestine and then some veterinarians say they don’t break down.
http://articles.cnn.com/2006-02-14/us/dangerous.dogtreat_1_joe-roetheli-greenies-dog-owners?_s=PM:US
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)
Partnership for a Healthier America
Brynn Barnett, 202-797-6140
news@aHealthierAmerica.org
Plus they are not going to be as satisfied if there is not the right proportion of salt. Stop them before they ruin everything.
Government Snickers? Another company I’m through with for life.
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.
Looks like she should mind her own business and stop lecturing everyone else...
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fC5cxrdDB9yK?__site=daylife&q=Michelle+obama
I’m down with that.
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!
Are Mounds, Payday and JuniorMints safe? *fingers crossed*
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