Candy maker Mars backs U.S. plan to label added sugars

Candy maker Mars Inc., maker of M&Ms and Snickers, is backing a plan by U.S. regulators to give more detailed information on how much sugar is in its products.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing that food companies add a measure of the amount of sugar in every food product to the Nutrition Facts labels on food. The labels would detailadded sugars and syrups, but not natural sugars from fruit or juices.

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If that plan goes ahead, consumers might be more shocked by the amount of sugar that is in products such as yoghurt, tomato sauce or processed foods, than in candy, which they expect to be sweet.

Mars's global head of research and development Dave Crean said that the company supports more information for consumers.

Limit sugar intake

In a letter submitted to government officials Thursday, Mars said it also backs calls by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to recommend that people should limit added sugar to 10 per cent of daily calories.

The FDA does not currently set a recommended intake level for sugar for its Nutrition Facts labels and some critics say pressure from the food industry has blocked more detailed labelling.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is to issue recommendations this year for better food labelling to address the excess fat and sugar in American diets.

The Obama administration is backing a plan to add more information on calories and added sugars to food. Earlier this year,Health Minister Rona Ambrose said Canada is considering similar labelling.

Mars is making a savvy public relations move in backing better labelling, as consumers have become increasingly mistrustful of what is in their food.

In addition to moving towards more fresh fruit and vegetables, shoppers are shunning many canned and processed foodsas they change their diets.

The candy maker, with worldwide sales of $33 billion, has also joined initiatives that curb junk-food marketing to children.

"It might appear to be counterintuitive, but if you dig down a bit more, we know candy itself is not a diet," Crean said. "It shouldn't be consumed too often, and having transparency of how much it should be consumed is actually quite helpful to consumers."