Mars bars safe for vegetarians again

The company that makes Mars bars has announced that it has jettisoned plans to use animal products in chocolate and apologised to vegetarians who mounted a vociferous campaign against the change.

The company had said last week that it was changing the whey used in some chocolate and ice cream from a vegetarian source to one with traces of rennet, an animal enzyme.

The decision was intended to broaden the supply base of ingredients, the company said.

But the Vegetarian Society, which represents three million people in the UK, asked consumers to "express their concern" to Masterfoods, which produces the Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Galaxy brands affected by the change. This was followed by more than 6,000 people telephoning and emailing the company, which normally receives 500 comments a week. Forty MPs also signed a petition "to voice their disquiet".

Fiona Dawson, the managing director of the Mars snack business in the UK, 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."

The company said that it would begin changing its recipe back immediately for the best-selling four brands and at a later date for Minstrels.