Mars Says Goodbye to it’s “King”

By the end of 2013 Mars will put an end to their confectionery products exceeding 250 calories.  The end of the era of the “jumbo, ‘stay-puft'” (I made that up) comes by way of an Agreement that Mars signed with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America to eradicate 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015.  I ❤ Michelle Obama.

Mars is taking a stand by eliminating their king-sized candy bars.  A Snickers king-size bar is 510 calories.  That’s a meal in an over-sized, sugar-filled candy bar.  Do I even have to mention that there’s an obesity problem in the U.S.?  Regular-sized Snickers are 280 calories.  Their “regular-size” will be reduced to an undetermined slightly smaller size in order to make the 250 calorie cut-off.  Good!

Mars acknowledges the necessity for change in America’s overall health.  They believe “this work is essential, as health conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes have complex causes, and finding lasting solutions will require concerted efforts by many parties.”

This will bring portion control into a new light.  I know there are people that eat king-sized candy bars as snacks, or after meals, even with meals.   Without the king-size option, a 250 calorie snack or dessert will be nice.  A reduced-size “regular” candy bar may just be the right size to extinguish cravings and help decrease the amount of health problems in this country, one hopes.  The realization that bigger is not necessarily better might begin to make a deeper impact and we may  learn to snack responsibly.

We are in this together and work must be done to change the way we, as American’s, view food.  Thankfully Mars is one of the leaders in the food industry that are looking into the nutritional value of their foods and finding ways to improve.  This is the beginning of a changing time in the American food industry and I’m excited to see the results.  I’ve recently read that Pepsi is taking steps to make healthier products as well.  2015, I’m looking forward to you!

Now my only question is, will the cost reflect the downsize in the candy bar?  One hopes that Mars is as ethically, as they are nutritionally, inclined.

(And in case you were wondering, Twix and M&Ms fall under the 250 calorie range and won’t be changed.)