Whey to go: Mars scraps use of animal product

MARS has abandoned its plan to use animal products in chocolate and has apologised to vegetarians who organised a campaign against the change.

The company announced last week that it was changing the whey it uses in some chocolate and ice cream from a vegetarian source to one that contains traces of rennet, which is an animal enzyme.

Vegetarian campaigners in Ireland have condemned the planned move by Masterfoods as a backward step.

The Vegetarian Society in Britain had also protested on behalf of the three million vegetarians in that country and had asked people to “express their concern” to Masterfoods, which produces the Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Galaxy brands affected by the change.

Within a week of the decision being announced, more than 6,000 people had called and emailed the Mars switchboard, which usually receives 500 comments per week.

Fiona Dawson, managing director of the Mars snack business in Britain, said yesterday: “The consumer is our boss and we had lots of feedback from consumers who were unhappy about the change.

“It became very clear, very quickly that we had made a mistake, for which I am sorry.

“We upset a lot of the consumers. We have listened to their views and have decided to reverse our decision.”

The company, which had said that admitting it could not guarantee all products as suitable for vegetarians was a “principled decision”, said it will begin changing its recipe back immediately for the four best selling brands and at a later date for Minstrels.

Ms Dawson added: “We made the original decision in order to broaden our supply base to ensure the availability of our supply, but we underestimated the impact this would have.

“I personally commit to make sure that the products we changed will be suitable for vegetarians again in the near future.”

Dr Annette Pinner, chief executive of the Vegetarian Society, said: “A Masterfoods representative has made contact with us and we are very pleased that they now recognise the importance of integrity to all their customers, especially vegetarians.

“We cannot endorse any planned actions by the company until we receive detailed assurances about the ingredients and processes involved in production but we are delighted that Mars UK has been honest enough to mark the beginning of National Vegetarian Week by admitting that it made a mistake.”

The society also invited the company to seek the approval of vegetarians through its accreditation scheme.