Talking Allergies

Has anyone else see the new peanut-free Mars bar? I was at a gas station in Ottawa yesterday and saw them by the cash register. There were two bars in one package.

Someone else mentioned to me that this product was coming out soon.

I should have just bought it and then gotten all the details. Was too busy freaking out over the price of gas to do so, I guess!

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I saw them and purchased three packages (6 in our family) for dessert. My youngest son was wonderful he ate his and loved it. The next time we were at the store he saw the normal mars bars and without me saying anything to him he noticed that they did not have the peanut free symbol and said that he could not have these ones.

They were at the Superstore in the candy aisle. They have the peanut free symbol and state that you should read the ingredients every time.

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Sil

My daughter will be happy to hear this...she loves Mars bars.

Are they also nut free?

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15-year-old son: peanuts, nuts, raw egg whites, asthmatic
Self: allergic rhinitis, fragrance/chemical sensitivities, oral allergy syndrome

Wow!!! These companies are on a roll !!! About time we start seeing some changes for our kids. Anyone in the GTA seen these around yet? If so, in what stores? My kids would go nuts over them (sorry, no pun intended )

Pepper I saw them at Walmart - I'm in the GTA. There were with the candies & other chocolate bars (big packs).

Not sure about nuts- I just saw the "No peanut" logo.

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4ye old DD allergic to sesame, peanut, raw egg , and mulitple environmental & seasonal allergies

2 yr old DS -no known allergies!

I am very thankful that Mars has come out with peanut-free bars but I have a concern. I bought the 20 funsize pack and on the package there is a picture of a peanut with the peanut-free logo. The individual fun-size bar states "Make sure to read the labels everytime. Other mars bars products may contain nuts" in white print. Nowhere on the individual fun size bar does it have the peanut logo or state peanut-free so unless you have seen the big package that it comes in, there could be a problem. (If people handing out the candy have thrown out the bag etc..,) I was hoping that they would follow suit with Quaker how they have the peanut-free logo on the individual item. If there were 2 snack size mars bars (one peanut-free and one not peanut-free) side by side, how would you know the difference?

I found them here in Burlington at Shopper's Drug Mart, in the candy aisle. It was a large one with 2 smaller bars inside. My daughters had them as a treat Friday night. I almost bought one for my friend's daughter who is peanut/nut allergic, as I believe she probably never had a Mars bar, but since it only says peanuts only, I didn't in case they are not safe for people with nut allergies .

Joelle - It appears the only Mars Bars that people have actually seen that are "peanut free" are the ones that are regular size but come 2 in a package. Perhaps there are more sizes to come, including the snack sizes but they just have to get their old product off the shelf? I haven't seen any of the individual ones or snack size ones that have the peanut free logo.

The Mars Bar does not appear to have its own website but I managed to determine that Mars Bars are made by Effem Inc. here in Canada. I could not locate a website or email address for them but was able to find a phone number - you can contact them at 1-800-565-0147 and ask to speak to someone in Consumer Affairs.

I called them to inquire about their *new* peanut-free Mars bar. Here's what I was told:

-- Their new manufacturing facility was three years in the making. They remade floors, ceilings, walls to ensure that there were no traces of peanuts/nuts from prior manufacturing.
-- All raw materials that come into the plant are tested for peanut.
-- At least one bar from each batch is tested for peanut.
-- Occassionally they will do random tests throughout the plant for peanut.
-- All employees are required to sign a waiver stating that they will not bring any food containing peanut into the plant.
-- There are no peanuts OR tree nuts in the facility. They can only guarantee "peanut-free" because currently they only have tests to ensure "peanut-free".
-- If any of their food items were processed in a facility with peanuts or tree nuts, contained peanuts or tree nuts, or was possibly cross-contaminated with peanuts or tree nuts -- the package labelling would indicate this.
-- She advised that they label cross-contamination for the top 10 allergens.
-- ALL milk chocolate Mars Bars are peanut-free - all sizes including the snack sized (fun size) ones. I asked about the "peanut-free" logo on the snack sized bars and she said that it only appeared on the outside bag BUT each individual bar had an ingredients list. Perhaps we could all call and ask that they change the snack sized bars packaging to include the "peanut-free" logo so that it is more easily identifiable. I already expressed my concerns but if the request comes in numbers...perhaps they'll make the change?
-- The other chocoate bar that they make in this facility is the 3 Muskateers bar. They cannot claim it to be peanut-free because they don't do the testing on this particular bar, however, made on the same peanut-free and nut-free premises and made with some of the same raw materials as the Mars Bar.
I hope this helps clear up any questions.

Thanks ethansmom for all the info.

I agree that we should provide customer feedback about the individual packages not having the clear "no peanuts" info on them. Companies do take it into account.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I bought some of these today, because I am a HUIGE fan of Mars bars. I wanted to caution those with egg allergy not to buy these bars - the ingredient list indicates dried egg white as one of the ingredients.

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14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses

Wow, that's impressive, the length they go through to keep them safe!!! Hopefully this will lead to other bars being safe, since they have all the procedures in place. It would be nice to have the same procedures for the 3 Musketeers bars.

I shall write to them about that. Add my two cents' worth!

Just an update- I called the Mars Bar company and they asked me to send in the packaging. They are sending me an envelope to send it back to them. I mentioned to them that a serious concern I had is that children take one or two of the mini snack size bars in school lunchkits and the teacher does not have the main package that states that they are peanut -free and a teacher should not allow this in a classroom if he/she do not have clear instructions on the labels in a peanut-free classroom.. They have taken my concern seriously and are looking into the situation. I am thankful they are looking into this

I picked up a 20 pack of the "fun size" bars yesterday. Looking at how small those bars are and the limited space available on the wrapper...I don't think it's realistic for them to have the "peanut-free" logo on each individual tiny bar. Perhaps they could just add "This bar is peanut-free." to their current statement that follows the list of ingredients, "Make sure to read the label every time. Other Mars Bar products may contain peanuts."