Chocolate lovers face a stark choice: either give up Mars bars or break their meat-free vows

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I don't understand why those of you who are vegans are complaining about the vegetarians who are objecting to using rennet. Keep the complaints to Masterfoods. The more people who protest and boycott them, the more likely they will reverse their decision, resulting in less animal cruelty - the thing which we are all fighting for.

- Jenny N, Southampton, UK

Has masterfoods the manufacturer of such popular treats as mars bars, minstrels etc. gone mad, they have not only stoped vegetarians from eating there treats but also Hindus, Muslims and Jews as the renet will not be taken from animals killed in a religious manner.
How much profit will the change cost them in not just this country but globaly, I do not think that which ever profit cruncher they have used has thought this one out.

- Mike, Heptonstall, England

I am absolutely disgusted at this decision.
I agree with Lee from Weymouth, and as a vegetarian, eating these products is simply not an option.
I refuse even to buy the veggie bars still available as I refuse to contribute to a company that makes such backwards choices.

- Fiona, Edinbrugh

The most annoying aspect of this is the patronising comment from the Masterfoods spokesman suggesting a 'non-strict' vegetarian can still enjoy their products.

You are either a vegetarian or you aren't.

I will be delighted if this decision ultimately results in a drop in profits for them as people start to boycott their products.

- Lee, Weymouth

I feel it is not acceptable to put meat in chocolate. When you buy chocolate don't you want to be eating chocolate and not a cow's stomach? I personally won't be eating this chocolate anymore. When I buy chocolate I want chocolate, not meat. If I wanted meat I would go and buy it. They are two separate products which should remain separate. Even non-vegetarians have sworn off eating this product as they want to avoid meat in their chocolate. Bring back the old ingredients and get with the times.

- Rosie, Leeds, UK

Disgusted. Suggest everyone as upset as I am logs onto the masterfoods customer care website and tell them what you think. I thought business was about increasing sales not decreasing them. They will soon learn once they see the new sales figures...

- Tracy, Dorchester

Yuk, I don't want to eat calves' stomachs in my chocolate! No more Mars Bars for me!

- Eve Risbridger, Redhill, Surrey

Paul,
As a strict vegan I agree that it makes little sense to object to rennet but not to the milk and milk proteins (along with the butter, eggs, cheese) that go into many vegetarian products.

Dairy animals are some of the most abused animals... dairy cows are kept pregnant so they can produce milk 24/7, their calves are taken from them upon birth, and the males are turned into veal calves. The cows are fed huge quantities of antibiotics and other drugs to make them produce larger quantities of milk, and cows who would normally live 20-25 years die after 5-7 years from overuse and are then slaughtered. The same sort of abuse can be found with chickens. Laying hens have miserable, short and brutish lives and are some of the most cruelly treatments animals.

If you are an ethical vegetarian, ie, your concern is for animal cruelty - then continuing to eat dairy while complaining about the tiny amount of rennet in these candy bars makes no sense.

I urge ethical vegetarians everywhere to research the pain and suffering inflicted on cows and chickens in factory-farms and reconsider eating dairy.

- Wordster, USA

I was surprised to read that Mars are taking this backward step in their production of confectionary bars. The price of these products will not come down; the fat cats at the top will just rake in the savings they will make from using this cheaper and cruel ingredient.

- Mandy, Northampton, England

I'm betting that in a few weeks, when their profits fall, which they will, they will do a backtrack. It doesn't matter, the damage is done as far as I'm concerned. The only reason they are changing it is because they want to save money. Maybe someone should tell their marketing people about false economies.

- Kim, London

If the vegetarian lobby is so concerned about the source of the rennet should they not be equally concerned about the milk?
Calves must be born on a regular basis to ensure that the cows that bear them continue to produce a good milk yield; however, the number of calves born each year is significantly greater than can be absorbed by both the dairy and beef industries combined - the remainder are slaughtered.

- Paul G, Newbury, Berks

Who cares what picky eaters think or say?

- Butch, London, UK

Darren Jones, precisely. Milk comes from cows, who, eventually, end up on supermarket shelves packaged as beef. Eggs come from chickens that have a commercial laying life of around 18 months to two years, much less than their natural laying life, they are then placed alongside dead cows in supermarkets.

If you are going to complain about animal rights and insist on "animal" free products, then you shouldn't be morally schizophrenic and still digest the most unnatural of "foods", milk, for example.

Vegetarians have been eating and drinking animal products for years and therefore supporting the abysmally cruel animal farming industry. As has been pointed out, tehre is more cruelty in a glass of milk than in any caged egg.

It's all so hypocritical. If you want to make a statement and want to support animal rights, you have NO CHOICE but to go vegan. It is the only truly ethical animal rights position that you can take. No to animals as property, no to animals as resources. Welfare simply props up the industries of abuse. Rights means abolition.

- Jenny Hynes, Plymouth, England

If Mars has any sense, it will rescind this decision. However, the damage is already done to the company and it will take them a lot of money and publicity to bring people back.

Don't they realise how big the vegetarian market is these days?

- Jan Holbrook, London, England

What is this about 'Rennet' and 'Whey': are they saying that Mars Bars are not made from real Martians? Now I know why they're not green.

- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark

Does not the words "milk chocolate" mean that milk, which comes from animals, is used and always has been?

- Darren Jones, Watford

A Mars a day keeps the cows at bay.

- Peter, Hull UK

Shame on masterfoods!

I think this is completely disgraceful, but on the other hand perhaps I should thank them - it's good for my diet; along with boycotting nestle I'll now be skipping my afternoon "eyebreak" trip to get a twix. I'll be a size zero in no time!

- Helkat, London UK

Who cares, I do not each sweet things. Perhaps some of these veg heads can get a life and lose some weight at the same time.

- Andy, London

A dilemma for my eco friendly veggie friends.
Organic? Which means calves rennet.
Vegetarian? Which means synthetic rennet in their cheese, and chocolate.
Ethical? What do the Fair Trade brands use?
I'm not immune to selecting what I eat according to principle, which is that I try to chose British made and grown brands.

- Fg, England

This is an absolute disaster and a total backward move by Masterfoods UK. When the culture is strongly heading towards vegetarianism, companies such as Masterfoods opt to head towards "killing a calf" because its cheaper for production. That is immoral. Why not provide a vegetarian substituted chocolate too? You can't truly compare cost of making a chocolate using vege friendly products to slaughtering a calf for the benefit of the companies turnover. The "first" principles of Mars Incorporated is "Quality - The consumer is our boss..." If this was truly what the principle was, then they would have a heart to listen to the views of those demanding "bring back the vegetarian chocolates". Lets see if they adhere to their principles or whether these principles are just a show!

- K Shah, Kenton, UK

Let them eat cake tho' I'm sure there's a problem with that too.

- Stan, Expat

Shame on Masterfoods (and other such manufacturers). There are always alternatives, probably more healthier, than animal products that can be used.

- Hb, Harrow, UK.

Idle curiosity - why should the majority of people who eat the Mars Bars etc, who are not vegetarians, be compelled to eat something that conforms the vegetarians demands? Agreed, it wouldn't harm the carnivores amongst us, but HAVING to? The majority ceding control to the minority? That is the sum of their demands, as I see it.

I wonder which other things are on the Vegan hit list...

- Rogan M., DFW TX USA

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