Position
At Mars, Incorporated, we are proud of the products we produce, from snacks and chewing gum to family meals and pet food. We strive to make products that not only taste great, but that allow people to feel confident about eating and feeding their families and pets. We recognize our role in providing food to consumers around the world, and we understand the important role that safe and nutritious foods play in helping people live happy and healthy lives.
As part of our product portfolio, Mars offers a range of fortified foods that can help consumers meet their specific nutritional needs and that may help support the optimization of health. We offer a number of food and drink products to which essential nutrients have been added for fortification or restoration purposes. The addition of essential nutrients to our foods may be the result of regulatory requirements (e.g. standards of identity), or voluntary initiatives done to help address specific micronutrient deficiencies of public health concern, or to support the optimization of health.
When adding essential nutrients to our products, we always consider legal and regulatory requirements, nutritional and dietary relevancy, efficacy and safety. We abide by all relevant national and regional food standards or regulations. Where no national or regional food regulations exist, we refer to Codex Alimentarius for guidance. We recognize there are geographical differences with regard to nutritional needs; therefore, we make our fortification decisions based on guidance from local and national governmental programs, as well as recommendations laid out by organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization. We rely on current scientific knowledge, and we seek the advice of our scientific experts to guide our decisions on fortification. Further, we take into consideration the target population for the product and its intended use, as well as the potential contribution of the fortified product relative to background diet so as to support health and minimize the risk of possible harm due to over-consumption.
The addition of essential nutrients to our products is done to support health. As such, we will always provide detailed nutritional information on-pack for products to which essential nutrients are added, in accordance with all legal and regulatory requirements for labeling. Mars commits to apply internal standards requiring nutrition and health claims to be based on scientific evidence and presented to represent the product accurately and honestly. We will not fortify energy-dense, limited-nutrient confectionery products for the purpose of making claims in markets where there are not serious micronutrient needs and where consumption of such products is an occasional indulgence and not expected to make a meaningful contribution to addressing an individual’s nutritional needs. In the absence of local regulations for health, nutrition or fortification claims, Mars, Incorporated will apply internal standards along with guidance set forth by Codex Alimentarius.