Mars, Incorporated sells delicious brands that bring joy to people all over the world.
The chocolate and confectionery treats that we make contain sugar, an ingredient that contributes essential sweetness to the taste, but should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle.
The world’s leading health authorities—including the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition—have recommended that people limit their intake their intake of sugars, particularly those added to foods, to no more than 10% of total energy/caloric intake.
Mars supports this recommendation.
One of the most important ways we can help is by giving consumers clear information about what’s in the products we manufacture so they can make informed dietary choices. To make it easier for people to track the amount of added sugar in their diets, Mars declared its full support for a US Government proposal to include an added sugars declaration in the Nutrition Facts panel on packaging.
Our comments on the recommendations put forth by the US DGAC, including support for their recommendations to limit the intake of added sugars and the FDA’s proposal on added sugars, were publicly filed on May 8, 2015, and can be found here.
Mars, Incorporated’s commitment to help limit intake of added sugars to less than 10% of total calorie intake, including our support for the new labeling proposal, builds on the steps we have taken over time to help consumers achieve their nutritional goals.
Mars currently:
- Has Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) labeling on all chocolate, food and sugar confectionery products
- Limits all our confectionery products to no more than 250 kcal per serving
- Offers sugar-free and low sugar Wrigley gum
- Has reformulated products to reduce trans fatty acids
- Has reduced salt and saturated fats in our portfolio
- Adheres to a strict Marketing Code that does not allow marketing communications to children under 12 for our food, chocolate, confections and gum products
Going forward, we will:
- Support new labeling approaches (on pack and digital), where such approaches are supported by a coalition of science and nutrition experts, regulators, retailers, industry leaders, and NGOs
- Increase the number of our chocolate confections below 200 kcal per pack
- Continue our efforts to improve and diversify the nutritional composition of our product portfolio
- Promote the oral health benefits of sugar-free gum
We recognize that the health and nutritional challenges facing our society are daunting. As a business, we are hard at work developing an overall health and wellbeing strategy for our company and our diverse portfolio, and we are committed to being a part of the solution to this challenge.
We have a lot of work to do and we know we can’t do it alone. Supporting global public health efforts to limit society’s consumption of added sugars and labeling our products transparently, are steps in the right direction for us and will benefit everyone who enjoys Mars products.