Mars Candy brings Health Facts to the Front Panel

Mars Inc., the family-owned company that produces some of the world's leading candy products, is the first US confectionery company to voluntarily implement Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) nutritional labeling on the front panel of its chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery and other food products.

These new labels, referred to as “What’s Inside,” contain total calorie counts, total fat, saturated fat, sodium and other key nutrition facts aimed at helping consumers make quick choices on the nutritional benefits of their purchase. According to Bob Gamgort, president of Mars North America, these labels are intended to “provide clear, concise and understandable information to consumers about what’s inside all of our products.”

Although many European food companies are already following this trend and disclosing nutritional contents on the front panel of their products, Mars will be the first in the US to adopt this practice.

This bold move by Mars brings up some interesting questions. Such as, who’s buying a chocolate bar for the nutrition? Since most confectionery companies sell the whole candy experience – the nostalgia, the quality of ingredients, or the old-fashioned recipe from which it was made – and not the nutritional value, it remains to be seen whether or not Mars’ action will change eating habits or move more candy sales. Will others in the industry follow? For instance, it’s unlikely that the fashionable, luxury brands like Godiva, Joseph Schmidt or Vosges would start displaying fat content on the front of their box, since it doesn’t fit with their brand message and may kill the culinary experience. Lastly, will U.S consumers care or will this make them buy raisins instead?

Watch for the new Mars packaging in US retail stores in December and more updates to this story on the blog.

Want to read more? Check out some articles at The Progressive Grocer
and NutraIngredients