Australian Mars Bars

It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten the classic Mars Bar and had noticed the new variety, Mars Rocks, appearing more frequently at the supermarket and petrol station as well. Because the number three is my personal lucky number, I thought I’d give the ‘lite’ Mars bar version a try at the same time. (Hanging her head in shame and greed) – Yes, dear readers, I ate all three of them in one single afternoon. And yes, I felt deservedly sick afterwards.

The original Mars isn’t too bad in terms of fat content – 10g per 60g bar, at least when compared to other chocolate bars that tend to be lighter – on average about 45g and have more around 17g of fat – believe me, I’ve looked. I was also reminded of how sickly-sweet Mars bars are, and how ‘filling’ they can be. I was also reminded of seeing my nineteen year old brother trying to eat one within minutes of leaving the dentist after receiving two fillings. With an entirely numb right hand side of his face the caramel and chocolate spilling down his neck in a sticky drool was not a nice advertisement. After eating one nearly twenty years later though, they’re good, sturdy and value for money. Just make sure you have a cup of tea on hand to ease your thirst from the sugar hit.

The Mars ‘lite’ proudly proclaims itself as being ‘50% less fat’. Underneath this, in much smaller type, it states ‘…..than the average of leading bar brands.’ Oh, right. On the plus side, they taste just as good as the original, which is a relief. However, this is only because instead of the bar being 60g, it is merely 44.5g, so already the fat content has been cut by a quarter. Annoyingly it is still priced the same as the 60g bar, thus increasing Mars Confectionery’s profit margin by 25%. Sneaky Mars, sneaky….

Mars Rocks has some rice crispies in the outer chocolate layer so that it resembles a Chokito, but it adds very little in terms of anything uniquely different in taste to the original Mars Bar.

My advice is to buy the 60g classic, cut it in half and give one of the sections to a friend. There you have it – only five grams of fat but still the same dependable Mars Bar taste. Lower in fat and cheaper, too.

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