masterfoods strange chocolate decision

masterfoods, the maker of mars, twix, milky way, minstrels, snickers etc have made an odd decision to start using the animal product 'rennet' in their chocolate.

any chocolate bar dated after 1st october 2007 will no longer be able to be eaten by vegetarians, muslims or jews due to the addition of rennet, which comes from the stomachs of calves.

Masterfoods said the change was due to it switching the sourcing of its ingredients and the admission was a "principled decision" on its part.

is the excuse that they use in the story from bbc website

i personally don't like any of the above chocolates but i know many people who buy them because they don't contain rennet.

are masterfoods about to shoot themselves in the foot by alienating a large percentage of their customers who buy their product for that specific reason?

it just seems a very strange thing to do when there are many alternative additives which vegetarians, muslims and jews would be happy with, and one might argue, what was so wrong with the way they had been made all these years that they feel they must change the recipe to now include animal products?

What! I'm a chocoholic! I don't want to eat something from a calfs stomach in my chocolate bar! Thats disgusting!Really I'd like to know too why change ingredients now?

Oh I just ate a Bounty chocolate bar last night. Is this only for in the UK? I believe the Canadian manufacturer is Effem Foods, and they also make M&M's.

so far it appears to be only the uk as far as i can find.

makes you wonder if there is there an internal conspiracy to put people off chocolate (or the company) as they also got some recent bad publicity for a tasteless advert advocating violence shown during the 2007 superbowl. some bad decisions being made from them for sure lately

The % of people that know there is rennet in the candy is utterly and completely NOTHING compared to the total population group that buys the candy.

If masterfoods looses some of the few people that know whats in this candy, they couldn't care less and they wouldn't loose a dime over it.

Just think for a moment and ask some people in your neighbourhood if they know the ingredients of a Mars bar.

A bussines is about the bottom line, noone will loose any sleep over loosing some people while increasing their bottom line considerably.

The Mars family is pretty idiosyncratic I think. Who knows exactly why they did this?

If it was to improve their product, then I agree with it even if it excludes a small minority from buying it.

[edit on 5/16/2007 by djohnsto77]

Originally posted by thematrix
The % of people that know there is rennet in the candy is utterly and completely NOTHING compared to the total population group that buys the candy.

If masterfoods looses some of the few people that know whats in this candy, they couldn't care less and they wouldn't loose a dime over it.

Just think for a moment and ask some people in your neighbourhood if they know the ingredients of a Mars bar.

i think you would be VERY suprised at the amount of vegetarians, muslims, jews and hindus who could tell you what foods were safe for them to eat and what wasn't.

not everyone in the world is so blissfully ignorant towards what they put in their bodies (and especially so when it comes to certain religions). its a larger group of people than you seem to think and if they all stopped buying the products then how can you say the company "wouldn't loose a dime over it" (it's 'lose' not 'loose' by the way).

take you own advise and ask any of the muslims, jews, hindus and vegetarians in your neighbourhood what they can and can't eat - you might find it very educational!

When you own a company lock, stock & barrel all in your own family, you can do whatever you want to do with it without much explanation.

[edit on 5/16/2007 by djohnsto77]

They always used rennet, They just switched to using natural rennet instend of one that was a genetically engineered monster.

This is good folks!

Besides what is a vegetarian doing eating milk chocolate anyway

Hmm no great loss as far as my diet goes. i wonder how many ppl realise rennet is in most brands of cheese out there. Over here there's only a few without. I'd also point out red M&Ms contain a pigment obtained from the juice of dead beetles. Enjoy. en.wikipedia.org...

I wonder at what point the desire to know intersects with the willingness to find out?

How many people out there are familiar with castorium? It's contained in some perfumes and used as a food additive in some soft drinks. Usually lumped in with other ingredients as "artificial flavors".

Castorium is derived from the anal glands of beavers. Makes rennet sound pretty good, eh? Drink up.

I'll have a beer.

Originally posted by yeahright
I'll have a beer.

Yum.. spoiled grain juice



It's really a shame how people are so disconnected with their food, but I suppose that's a rant for another time.

Originally posted by Cug
Yum.. spoiled grain juice

We prefer the term, "fermented". Like yogurt, only suitable as a potable during barbecues.

Originally posted by AccessDenied
What! I'm a chocoholic! I don't want to eat something from a calfs stomach in my chocolate bar! Thats disgusting!

I'm guessing you don't want to know what's used to colour m&ms red then.



I was too late.

Originally posted by Shar_Chi
I'd also point out red M&Ms contain a pigment obtained from the juice of dead beetles. Enjoy. en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 16/5/07 by Implosion]

Wait, firstly, can someone please explain to me why this applies to Muslims and Jews? Last time I checked, Muslims and Jews could eat products made from cows. Its pigs they can't eat.

Originally posted by Kacen
Wait, firstly, can someone please explain to me why this applies to Muslims and Jews?

Can't help you with the Muslims. Here is some info about kosher-
www.jewfaq.org...

Yes, Jews can eat beef, chicken, no shellfish. But it still requires the permitted food to have been killed and prepared in a very specific way if you're "keeping kosher".

You old timers will get this one. It's to prepare us for 'Soylent Green'.

Have a nice day.

Aww, don't hate on M&Ms! No beetlejuice there!
www.straightdope.com...

Feel free to hate Junior Mints though, I've always found those suckers to be weird. I also find it funny that folks who are so meticulous and concerned about their diets would even eat candy bars. Real vegetarians don't consume milk either, despite what they claim to be, it's cheating! As long as there's no funny business going on with Andes mints or Jelly Belly beans, I'm good. Err, well, I scratch that - it doesn't matter either way... Never even heard of rennet before this.

Originally posted by Kacen
Wait, firstly, can someone please explain to me why this applies to Muslims and Jews? Last time I checked, Muslims and Jews could eat products made from cows. Its pigs they can't eat.

I think the problem with Jews is mixing meat with dairy.

Not sure why this would affect Muslims though, unless they have the same restriction.

Originally posted by AlphaHumana
Aww, don't hate on M&Ms! No beetlejuice there!
www.straightdope.com...

Apparently, it depends where you buy them:

Red was eliminated in 1976 because of health concerns about the red dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), a suspected carcinogen. Despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye, red M&M's were removed to satisfy worried consumers. By 1987, the public had forgotten the scare, and the red candies were reintroduced. They currently contain Allura red AC (FD&C Red #40). In Europe, Allura red AC (E129) is not recommended for consumption by children. It is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Norway. Instead, Cochineal (E120) is used In the red shells.

Source.