Mars, Twix, etal No Longer Suitable For Vegetarians

I don't really eat chocolate that often, so m not madly angry, but I am very puzzled.  Most manufacturers are going the other way and making their products veggie friendly, so why on earth are Mars going the other way?  I do like the odd twix, and this will be annoying, but more than that I think it is a bad business decision.

I'm a bit puzzled as well. They guy from Mars didn't explain why they decided to switch to a non-vegetarian option, he basically had the "vegetarians are SOL" attitude.

I forgot, of course, there are some cheeses that don't use any kind of rennet at all. I think Feta is one, I can't remember which others off the top of my head.

Paneer is a vegetarian cheese that doesn't use rennet.

I grew up on a farm.  I've pretty much always known about rennet, gelatin... and how they make hotdogs.  (When I was about 10, teachers showed a hotdog production film on hotdog day.  Other kids gave me their hotdogs... it was great!)  I'd love to have nothing to do with rennet or veal production, but it's too tough.  I'd have to stop using all dairy products from cattle.  Life without butter, milk or cheese would be hard.  No icecream??  Hollandaise with margarine?  I've tried tofu cheese on pizza and nachos... it's not that good.

On a plus side...I've just stuffed my face with some vegetarian weight watchers chocolate bards which are even nicer than Mars Bars (though bloody expensive!).  So i'll cope!

Vicky

I as well like the new chocolate bars from Weight Watchers. they are very nice but expensive for no bigger than they are.    

That's why I ate two in my meeting...

 

I'm glad I don't have a really sweet tooth, or I'd be skint!

Vicky

I grew up on a farm.  I've pretty much always known about rennet, gelatin... and how they make hotdogs.  (When I was about 10, teachers showed a hotdog production film on hotdog day.  Other kids gave me their hotdogs... it was great!)  I'd love to have nothing to do with rennet or veal production, but it's too tough.  I'd have to stop using all dairy products from cattle.  Life without butter, milk or cheese would be hard.  No icecream??  Hollandaise with margarine?  I've tried tofu cheese on pizza and nachos... it's not that good.

Hot Dog Day?? Is this a calendar holiday!? Fantastic!!! My grandparents had a farm, so I was there for sausage-making day and such. It takes a lot to gross me out when it comes to things like that. I'm pretty certain I was the only 7 year old ordering the veal parmesan at Bob's Big Boy.

That's why I ate two in my meeting...

 

I'm glad I don't have a really sweet tooth, or I'd be skint!

Vicky

I have a sweet tooth but I only limit myself 2 WW bars a day. I think my fav WW bar though is the Rich Toffee bar. I think if you put your chocolate bars in the fridge & let them get hard they take longer to eat thats what I do.    

Some more info here on which sweet treats are vege and which aren't & why the change at Mars:

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=743422007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,,2078833,00.html


You can check here if a product is approved by the Vegetarian Society:

http://www.vegsoc.org/seedling.html

And okay, so I'm stupid for not knowing, till reading above replies, that rennet is used to make most cheeses...

I wasn't criticising you - I just wondered why this would bother you if you were not vegetarian. 

A lot of people don't know about rennet.  Even vegetarians. 

Its a real shame that masterfoods has taken such a step backwards when so many others are moving forwards to cater for the ever growing number of vegetarians. It makes no sense.
And as for cheese, yes rennet is still used fairly often- but next time you go to the supermarket take a look at the packets of cheese, and also cheese flavoured products and youll see that a very very high percentage use non-animal ingredients and are labelled 'suitable for vegetarians'. Of course, thats in the UK- the US is a different matter! How does one say....'labelling challenged!' 

I forgot, of course, there are some cheeses that don't use any kind of rennet at all. I think Feta is one, I can't remember which others off the top of my head.

Yup, feta is one.  For those interested, good reading here:

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/cheese.html

So it turns out that Mars bars et al will stay veggie after all due to a large negative reaction from consumers:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6673549.stm

Oh good that means I can enjoy my ice cream Bounty this summer!

Was glad to read they've changed their plans!   

This story is one of the reasons why I'm leaning towards going back to being vegan. 

btw..I haven't had a hard time finding vegetarian cheeses.  Actually, the UK is better for vegetarians (although I miss a lot of my US mock meats and Whole Foods), because everything is labeled.