A Mars a day helps you work rest and play ... now you can do it with less calories.
A new “naked” version of the best selling chocolate bar made with date paste, nuts and raisins is being launched to avoid the bottom shelf amid new junk food laws.
Mars Triple Treat and stablemates Snickers, Bounty and Galaxy have also been revamped with similar ingredients following a government crackdown on food high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
The reimagined lower calorie Mars Triple Treat range hits Tesco shelves next month.
Instead of being encased in the familiar tasting chocolate, only the base is coated with it and the date and nut topping is lightly drizzled with chocolate, leaving it exposed.
But the bars will avoid being placed out of sight or in less prominent positions as they are lower in calories and with healthier ingredients so they fall within HFSS regulations.
It has taken 18 months for chocolate giant Mars to perfect the recipe for each bar which retains an element of the original.
For example, Triple Treat Mars (40g) which has 173 calories compared with 228 calories in the regular 51g version, will still contain its signature caramel.
And Triple Treat Bounty which has 169 calories compared with 278 calories in the original is sprinkled on top with a dusting of desiccated coconut.
Mars said its experts had “spent thousands of hours working on every minute detail of the bars - from the chewy caramel in the malt-infused Mars Triple Treat, to the crunchy roasted nuts on the Snickers variant”.
But at 80p a pop, the HFSS compliant bars will also cost around 57% more than their traditional counterparts.
Mars said the higher price was because of the “very premium ingredients” such as roasted peanuts and dates.
Kerry Cavanaugh, marketing director at parent company Mars Wrigley UK said: “Triple Treat does exactly what is says on the tin - it’s packed with a knockout trio of fruit, nuts and our iconic chocolate, and is delightfully delicious to boot.
“We’re thrilled that Brits can now enjoy a great tasting - and HFSS compliant - Galaxy, Mars, Snickers and Bounty treat. It’s tasty reinvented!”
While the Triple Treat bars will be at eye-level, middle shelf and end of aisle positions, iconic bars and other goodies such as Maltesers, M&M’s and Twix will be banned from prominent positions such as checkouts and store entrances along with other HFSS foods.
The measures are aimed at helping to fight obesity by removing tempting sugary treats from chocs and sweets to cakes and biscuits from easy-access areas to the supermarket backwaters from October when the new rules come in.
