Candy's 'sinful' pleasures to be revealed - in bold print

Washington, Oct 17 : The mere sight of a chocolate bar is more than enough to make you forget about the weeklong diet program and run towards it. However, in order to make the weight loss bid a success, a new labelling law is about to come into practice.

In a move to curb obesity, Mars Inc. has decided to put new nutritional labels on products like M and M's and Skittles, which may otherwise give you love handles with their large calorie contents.

"You see the calories, the total fat, the saturated fat, the sugars, and sodium content of the product," CBS News quoted Ralph Jerome, vice president of Mars, as saying.

Mars Inc. is all set to announce that M and Ms, Skittles, and, by the end of 2010, the rest of their candy will have new packaging that prominently displays all the guilty pleasure inside - in bold print.

"I think it's a great first step for food manufacturers. And it's more than a first step, in that, hopefully, it's going to be a trend that other food manufacturers will follow," said Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, a nutrition professor at Rutgers University.

While mentioning nutrition on food items has been into practice from quite some time, Mars claims that even chocoholics want them to be easier to read.

Increasing obesity rates has prompted many companies to help consumers know exactly what they're putting in their mouths. The move is not for curbing people om eating what they want, it has more to do with giving them enough clear information to make healthy choices.

One question that is often raised is: Will people start eating less chocolate now?

"I don't think so. We've been nutritionally labeling for a long time so I don't think people will be very surprised at what's inside," Jerome said.

ANI