Britain cuts Mars, Snickers into "two shareable portions," fighting fat

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Apparently, the terrorists HAVE won.

"Mars, Snickers to be downsized to fight fat
Pressure in Britain to control portion sizes, rising obesity"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6113296/

LONDON - King-sized Mars and Snickers chocolate bars will be cut down to size in Britain next year as a leading food manufacturer responds to growing pressure about portion distortion and rising levels of obesity.

The over-sized snacks, some weighing as much as 3.5 ounces and containing 387 calories, will be cut into “two shareable portions.”

The move by Masterfoods follows fast-food giant McDonald’s decision to add salads to its traditional hamburger and fries menu and to provide pedometers in adult “happy meals.”

“We’re changing the format. It will become shareable and delivered in two pieces,” Mark Reid, of Masterfoods, told Reuters on Monday.

[yellowcanine]

1. "Two shareable portions"? Heh - most people will just eat both all by

themselves. Share smare. If people really want to share a candy bar nothing stops them from cutting it in half. This is all about marketing - it allows the manufacturer to say that each half is a single "serving" - thus the calories and fat content per serving gets cut in half - all the while the manufacturer knows most people are going to gobble down both "servings".

[Wat_Tyler]

2. It's an empty gesture that generates goodwill for the company.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

4. Just like the Allawi press conference last week

Right?

:evilgrin:

[Wat_Tyler]

5. That's the way capitalism works.

[calico1]

3. Its a stupid idea.

When I was a kid the normal sized candy bar back then was a little bigger than a fun size today. Maybe the size of 2 funsized bars. They have gotten bigger and bigger and of course this contributes to the obesity problem because now these sizes are considered normal. But having a big bar with 2 servings is just dumb because the person will just eat the whole thing anyway. What we really need is to get back to normal portions. Normal sized candy bars, potato chips bags, etc. and normal sized food servings. We have been seeing these humungeous sized servings for so long that nobody knows what a proper size is anymore. The problem is that companies, restaurants, etc. won't do this because of consumer backlash. So they come up with this idea--split the candy bar in two and share it. Then they can pretend they are trying to help with the obesity problem.