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| Product type | Confectionery |
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| Owner | Mars, Incorporated |
| Introduced | 1930[1] |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Website | www.snickers.com |
Snickers is a brand name chocolate bar made by the American company Mars, Incorporated previously known in the UK as ‘Marathon’ but changed in 1990. Consisting of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts, enrobed in milk chocolate,[2] Snickers has annual global sales of $2 billion.[3]
In the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and Ireland, Snickers was sold under the brand name Marathon until July 19, 1990.[4] Snickers brand Marathon energy bars have since been sold in some markets.[5]
Contents
History.
In 1930[1] Mars introduced Snickers, named after the favorite horse of the Mars family.[6] The Snickers chocolate bar consists of nougat, peanuts, and caramel with a chocolate coating. The bar was marketed under the name “Marathon” in the UK and Ireland until July 19, 1990, when Mars decided to align the UK product with the global Snickers name (Mars had marketed and discontinued an unrelated bar named Marathon in the United States during the 1970s). There are also several other Snickers products such as Snickers mini, dark chocolate, ice cream bars, Snickers with almonds, Snickers with hazelnuts, Snickers peanut butter bars, Snickers protein and Snickers with Extra Caramel.[7]
Snickers Duo.
A replacement for the king size Snickers bar was launched in the UK in 2004 and designed to conform to the September 2004 Food and Drink Federation (FDF) “Manifesto for Food and Health”. Part of the FDF manifesto was seven pledges of action to encourage the food and drink industry to be more health conscious.[8] Reducing portion size, clearer food labels, and reduction of the levels of fat, sugar, and salt were among the FDF pledges. Mars Incorporated pledged to phase out their king-size bars in 2005 and replace them with shareable bars. A Mars spokesman said: “Our king-size bars that come in one portion will be changed so they are shareable or can be consumed on more than one occasion. The name king-size will be phased out.”[8]
These were eventually replaced by the ‘Duo’, a double bar pack. Though this change to Duos reduced the weight from 3.5 to 3.29 ounces (99 to 93 g), the price remained the same. The packaging has step-by-step picture instructions of how to open a Duo into two bars, in four simple actions.[9] As Mars stated fulfillment of their promise, the Duo format was met with criticism by the National Obesity Forum and National Consumer Council.[10]
Australian recall.
In December 2000, tens of thousands of Snickers and Mars Bars were removed from New South Wales store shelves due to a series of threatening letters which resulted in fears that the chocolate bars had been poisoned.[11] Mars received letters from an unidentified individual indicating that they planned to plant poisoned chocolate bars on store shelves.[11] The last letter sent included a Snickers bar contaminated with a substance which was later identified as rat poison.[11] The letters claimed that there were seven additional chocolate bars which had been tampered with and which were for sale to the public.[11] As a precautionary measure, Mars issued a massive recall.[11] Mars said that there had been no demand for money and complaints directed to an unidentified third party.[11]
Caloric value.
The USDA lists the caloric value of a 2-ounce (57 gram) Snickers bar as 280 kilocalories (1,200 kJ).[12] As of 2016, the United Kingdom bar has a weight of 48g, with 245 kcal,[13] and the Canadian bar 52g with 250 kcal.[citation needed] The four-pack bar in the United Kingdom has a weight of 41.7g, with 213kcal.[citation needed]
Bar weight.
Over the years, the bar weight has decreased: Before 2009, in the UK a single Snickers bar had a weight of 62.5g. This weight was subsequently reduced to 58g in 2009,[14] and to 48g in 2013.[15]
Products containing Snickers.
Containing approximately 450 calories (1,900 J) per bar,[16] deep fried chocolate bars (including Snickers and Mars bars) became a specialty in fish and chips shops in Scotland in 1995,[17] and in the early 2000s, became popular at American state fairs.
In 2012, the British Food Commission highlighted celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson‘s “Snickers pie“,[18] which contained five Snickers bars among other ingredients, suggesting it was one of the unhealthiest desserts ever; one slice providing “over 1,250 calories (5,200 kJ) from sugar and fat alone”, more than half a day’s requirement for an average adult. The pie had featured on his BBC Saturday programme some two years earlier and the chef described it as an occasional treat only.[19]
Variations.
- 1970 – 1973: Snickers Munch
- 1990 – present: Snickers Ice Cream bar
- 1996 – 2011: Snickers Ice Cream cone
- 2001 – present: Snickers Cruncher bar (re branded Snickers Munch in some markets, still sold as “Cruncher” in Italy, Germany, Romania, Egypt, Poland, Latvia, Austria, Slovakia, Israel, Sweden, Bosnia, and Portugal)
- 2002 – present: Snickers almond bar
- 2002 – 2008: Cookies Snickers
- 2004 – present: Snickers Marathon energy bars
- 2006 – present: Snickers Duo
- 2006 – 2009, 2014–present: Snickers X-treme (5 grams (0.18 oz) of protein per serving, lack of nougat)
- 2007 – 2010: Snickers Dark (dark chocolate)
- 2008: Snickers Charged (limited edition, contains caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins). It is the only Snickers bar to contain energy stimulants.[20]
- 2008 – present: Snickers The Lot (Crispy pieces in a thick cream, caramel, sprinkled with a large amount of nuts, and covered in chocolate (Australia and New Zealand)
- 2009: Snickers Fudge (limited edition)
- 2010: Snickers Maximus, a limited edition with only caramel and peanut in the center
- 2010: More Nuts, a limited edition featuring 10% higher nut content
- 2010 – present: Snickers Almond
- 2011: Snickers Peanut Butter. Discontinued and replaced by Snickers peanut butter Squared
- 2011: Snickers Peanut Butter Squared. Added to replace Snickers Peanut Butter.
- 2011: Snickers 3x Chocolate
- 2012: Snickers 3x Nuts. Introduced in Australia.
- 2013: Snickers 3x Caramel
- 2013: More Nuts. same as 2010.[21]
- 2013: More Caramel. Re-release of Snickers Maximus.[21]
- 2014: More Choc. a limited edition with the nougat and caramel being chocolate-based[22]
- 2017: Snickers & Hazelnut.[23]
Others include:
- Snickers Fun Size (small, bite-size bars popular for Halloween)
- Snickers Minis
- Snickers Flapjack
- Snickers Stik (25 grams (0.88 oz))
- Snickers Snack Size (42 grams (1.5 oz); also sold in packs with four or five 40 grams (1.4 oz) bars)
- Snickers Trio (combined 112.5 grams (3.97 oz) bar with three 37.5 grams (1.32 oz) bars; also sold as Snickers Super +1)
- Peanut Butter Squared[24]
- Snickers Gold
- Snickers Cake
- Snickers Ice Cream (Snickers Ice Cream Bars, Snickers Minis Ice Cream Bars, Snickers Ice Cream Cones, and Snickers Ice Cream Brownies)
- Snickers Nut N Butter Crunch
- Snickers Crazy Peanuts (limited edition, sold in Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia)
- Snickers Hard (limited edition, sold in Armenia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and Slovakia)
- Snickers 220 V (limited edition, contains guarana and L-carnitine, sold in 2007 in Ukraine, Slovakia, and Poland)
- Frozen Snickers (otherwise known as a Frozen Mungler)
- Snickers Hazelnut (Ukraine, Australia, Poland, and South Korea; standard bar is 70 grams (2.5 oz), Duo bar +15% is two 40.5-gram (1.43 oz) bars resulting in an 81-gram (2.9 oz) combined bar)
- Snickers Hazelnut (limited edition, sold in Bulgaria and Czech Republic; standard bar is 49 grams (1.7 oz))
- Snickers White (limited edition, sold in Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland; covered in white chocolate)
- Snickers with Sunflower Seed (limited edition, sold in Russia and Ukraine)
- Snickers 3 nuts (limited edition, sold in Russia; with peanuts, hazelnuts and almonds)
- Snickers Miniatures (in Celebrations)
- Snickers Maple (limited edition, sold in Canada only)
- Snickers with Green Shrek Filling (limited edition, sold as a tie-in with the movie Shrek the Third)
- Snickers Adventure Bar (limited edition, sold as Indiana Jones promotion with chocolate, nuts, spice, and coconut flavor)
- Snickers Rockin’ Nut Road (limited edition, sold as Rocky Nut Road in Canada, contains almonds, caramel, marshmallow flavored nougat, and dark chocolate)
- Snickers Chocolate Spread(with energizer)
- Snickers Superman (Ukraine; before 2009 it was 95 grams (3.4 oz), in 2009 it became 100 grams (3.5 oz), in 2010 it was split into two 50.5-gram (1.78 oz) bars resulting in a 101-gram (3.6 oz) combined bar)
chocolate 