Mars Food has unveiled a new five-year strategy that will see it reformulate products and introduce labelling initiatives aimed at helping to combat rising obesity levels.
The strategy, named Mars Health and Wellbeing Ambition, focuses on the company's meal-oriented brands Masterfoods, Dolmio, Kan Tong and Uncle Ben's.
Two examples of the changes include sodium reduction in Dolmio tomato-based pasta sauce, and sugar reduction in Kan Tong sweet and sour sauce.
The challenge lay maintaining the flavour and improving nutrition while dialling back these ingredients, and this came down to the skill of its production development team, Mars Food Australia R&D Director, Peter Crane said.
“Over the last five years we've also been engaging with CSIRO to better understand some of the delicate sensory attributes of our products.”
Mars will also start rolling out Health Star Ratings on its products from early 2017, and these will extend right across range by mid-2018.
Mars also plans to highlight the difference between ‘everyday meals’ and ‘occasional products’ on pack - an industry first in Australia. The latter will be applied to products, such as carbonara sauce, that contain higher levels of sugar, salt or fat.
The Mars Health and Wellbeing Ambition strategy will cover the following five areas.
Sodium and added sugar
Sodium and added-sugar will be reduced in line with nutrition guidance recently issued by the World Health Organization and other leading public health authorities.
Label changes
In addition to adding Health Star Ratings, Mars plans to highlight the difference between ‘everyday meals’ and ‘occasional products’ on pack. The latter will be applied to products with higher levels of sugar, salt or fat.
More fruit, veg and whole grain
50 per cent of rice products will include whole grains and legumes, and tomato-based products will include one serve of vegetables.
Accessibility
Mars will introduce new products in emerging markets to provide more people with greater access to healthier, convenient products.
Healthy inspiration
Recipes on Mars product labels, and in-store promotions, will meet nutrition criteria and encourage an increased consumption of vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins.
