For all you Mars-loving Vegetarians out there....

[HuwEdwards]

a dark dark day

NAO there was a thread about skittles a while ago. Another product that changed from totally vegan to non vegetarian. I'll try and find it for you.

Looks like I'm giving up chocolate all together

shellac in skittles

how rank....good job i dont eat ant cheap junk

I'm not a veggie (was for many years) but i tell you now i'd feel alot better tucking into a mars bar know it was free from calf stomach or what ever the hell it is,

and now that i know its in there im not sure ill be able to eat them now --- yuck

There are some very interesting comments on the petition. There are some very unhappy people signing the petition - I hadn't considered the religious viewpoint.

Signed it, even though I am vegan and don't eat mars anyway. Now, is they would only make a vegan mars bar...

tbh i would think twice about my kids gnawing on rennett

Otter, I don't know what Skittles contain now (been a long while since I read the labels!) but at the time (this is about 10 years ago) they contained gelatine. I've not touched them since.

The shellac thing is odd, Jelley; the Vegetarian Society accept it as suitable for vegetarians, although a lot of other organisations don't. It's in a lot of chocolate products which are actually marked as suitable for vegetarians.

Nooo! The thread got worse as I realised all the lovely chocolates that are effected.

The statement about less strict vegetarians is ridiculous, but I am one of those less strict vegetarians. I don't eat meat because I don't like it, not for any ethical reasons. I do try to avoid gelatine etc. (simply because I find the idea of it disgusting) but I'm not overly concerned if I find out I've eaten it by accident.

However I will be boycotting them simply because of how they have gone about it. To take such a backward step in their ingredients when so many people are becoming more concious of what they eat is downright wrong.

I think UK Skittles are vegetarian and possibly vegan also

I think US Skittles contain gelatin, bizarrely

Can't believe this, have signed the petition.
Over the years more and more brand names have become available for veggies such as ritz bics, cadbury mini rolls, love-heart sweets being the latest I have noticed.
Why are they taking such a backwards step?
Hope their profits sink quickly.
x

As Mars say they will be more than happy to refund the price of any products that have been purchased I'm going to return the packet of Mars Planets I bought last week and ask for my money back, plus the postage cost.

My little way of stamping my foot in a strop and letting them know how pee'd off I am.

Agree CherryCake - it was a big day in our house when Walkers cheese and onion crisps went veggie!

ffs, i bloody love ice cream snickers.

Reading between the lines the bloke sounded like he was saying sometimes the mars bars will be vegetarian, sometimes they won't be. Changing on a week to week basis depending on supplier.

And they couldn't GUARANTEE that it would be vegetarian anymore.

DH (who is vegi) said it sounds like factories saying they can't guarantee their products are nut free as they're made on a production line where there are sometimes nuts

Anyway he's boycotting.

I noticed the same thing last week with salt and vinegar Snack a Jacks. They now use animal rennet for some reason. Why do people put such weird stuff in food? Like gelatine in yogurts and things, it's minging! Was particularly put out re Snack a Jacks cos I was halfway through the pack when I noticed.

Another question for vegetarians who don't eat meet because they don't agree with animal slaughter - how do you justify drinking milk/dairy products?

Sorry - that sounded really antagonistic! wasn't meant to. I'm actually genuinely interested.

Sweety Darling,
I used to be a die hard veggie because of animal cruelty.
As for the dairy products and milk. There are some vegetarians who won't consume dairy products called vegans. Not sure whether obtaining milk would involve the slaughter of the cow. The cow would need to be alive to milk it of course!

I don't think that mars products is such a loss to vegetarians, there are other brands which are just as good if not superior. I hope that Green and Blacks and the Fairtrade stuff are going to stay vegetarian!

Have discovered Hotel Chocolat today - I'm a convert.

Why?

It tastes and looks gorgeous, is ethically produced and has less sugar in it than cheap stuff like Mars.

And no bits from calves' stomachs obviously.

oh babygrand, I wasn't refering to your comment I completely agree with you (although Green & Blacks owned by Cadburys only produce one fairtrade bar) my and 'why?' was simply because I don't understand why Mars are doing this. It just seems ridiculously pointless. I don't particularly lik eMars chocolate (beyond an odd bar of Galaxy) but I don't think that is the point. Putting ingredients into products which clearly don't need to be there has to be a penny pinching exercise.

If anything happened to Green and Black's I think I'd organise a protest rally. Because you know, arse to Iraq, now I'm a mother it's these big issues that count!