A candy bar is likely not the first thing that springs to mind when you think healthy eating.



But that's the idea behind the decision by Mars to reduce the calories in Milky Way and Twix bars.





The mega-candymaker — $30 billion in sales in 2010 — last week confirmed a report that it planned to phase out candy products that exceed 250 calories by the end of next year. Mars also plans to be up-front with its labeling, reduce sodium and introduce several products well under 200 calories. To date, the company has removed 97 percent of trans fat and saturated fat from its chocolate products.

If you are a chocoholic or avid snacker you might be thinking: Kudos! (Also their candy bar.)

If you are beholden to the bathroom scale, you might want to proceed with caution.

Mars said its impetus was its “broad-based commitment to health and nutrition” — its ongoing efforts to manage portions and calories.

But at the end of the day, do these types of marketing decisions really have an impact on what consumers decide to put into their shopping carts or their mouths?

Or is this another smoke-and-mirrors marketing ploy by a food company to get consumers to feel good about buying products that maybe aren’t the best options in the first place?

The answer: Yes and no.

“I have mixed feelings about this,” said Ashlee Hughes, a dietitian at the PinnacleHealth weight-loss clinic. “I definitely feel you should never deprive yourself in a diet or tell yourself you can’t have something. But if there are offerings out there for something to satisfy your chocolate cravings that are not going to put you over your calories, maybe it’s a good thing.

“The main thing to keep in mind is that if you are tracking calories or trying to keep in a healthy weight, to account for the calories in that candy bar,” Hughes said.

After all, 200 calories are still 200 calories.

“I would think having a small piece or half of one — a snack size — would be more appropriate,” Hughes said. “The hesitation is that I wouldn’t want people to think I was promoting that a candy bar is a healthy option to have.”

Mars is guarding additional plans, saying in a corporate release that it’s a 2013 initiative. It declined to comment when asked if the lower calorie count might come by way of a smaller product.

Mars is based in McLean, Va., and operates a plant in Elizabethtown.

The Patriot-News was unable to confirm with

whether the company was considering similar initiatives.

Aside from the residue left on fingers, one of the sticky things about 3 Musketeers and Bounty bars (again Mars) is that they still pack the calories and sugar.

“A lot of people don’t realize how many calories are in a king-size bar of any kind,” said Amanda Dolan, a registered dietitian at Capital BlueCross.

Dolan, however, is of the mind that once a company like Mars stops selling those larger, calorie-dense snacks, people will opt for the smaller packages.

“By the company doing that, some people are going to be cutting calories without knowing it,” she said.

Dolan, in fact, gives Mars a high-five — not just for the calories initiative, but for cutting saturated and trans fats and reducing sodium in their products.

“It may set a precedent for another company to follow suit and try to make products that are more healthy and keeping calories in mind,” she said.

Like Hughes, Dolan believes everything in moderation.

The flip side: Could those 250 calories be better spent?

“When you do coaching, it’s always best to ask, ‘What is best for you today? Would eating that candy bar be the best for you today?’ Dolan said. “Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it’s no.”

Someone focused on weight management or diabetes management might be able to make a better choice, Dolan said.

“It’s in their hands,” Dolan said. “Putting it back on them. What would be the best for you? It’s a great way to go. They have to think about it.”

Dolan coaches people to never justify eating — especially with exercise — as in “I walked two miles today so, therefore, I’m going to eat this candy bar.”

“That’s not a healthy way to look at it,” she said. “You shouldn’t feel guilty for eating anything, but at same time you have to ask yourself, ‘Was it worth it to you?’¤”

Americans have an unhealthy obsession with guilt and food, Dolan said. They have the misguided propensity of thinking that just because you ate the piece of cake, you’ve sabotaged your diet.

“It was just a McDonald’s meal. You haven’t sabotaged anything,” Dolan said. “Sabotage is destroying everything. This was just a meal.”

Of course, Hughes reminds everyone that you don’t have to eat a candy bar every day.

“It’s very easy to go overboard,” Hughes said. “It seems once you have a taste of sugar, once you give your body that taste of sugar, your body tends to crave more.”

If you are still looking for ways to resist the temptation to buy that candy bar, Hughes suggest you arm yourself with a shopping list when you enter the grocery store and stick to it.

Often, single candy servings are bought on impulse at the checkout, she said.

“That’s why they have them placed there, to sell more of them,” Hughes said. “If you are standing at the checkout, waiting and looking at them for some time, it’s enticing.”