August 25/London/Press Association Mediapoint -- The Mars chocolate company is to cut the saturated fat in some of its products in the latest effort to meet new health guidelines.

The Mars, Snickers, Milky Way and Topic chocolate bars will have 15% less saturated fat than their previous recipes from next month, Mars Chocolate said.

The move follows new guidelines from the U.K.'s Food Standards Agency earlier this year recommending that manufacturers reduce the saturated fat in chocolate confectionery by at least 10% by the end of 2012.

Mars said consumers would not notice any difference in the taste of product, adding the reduction would remove more than 600 tons of saturated fat a year from the U.K. diet.

Fiona Dawson, managing director of Mars Chocolate U.K., said, "The Mars bar holds a special place with U.K. consumers.

"This made it all the more important for us to keep the same great taste and is the reason that this reduction in saturated fat represents such an achievement.

"We are and remain committed to improving the nutritional content of our products."

British Nutrition Foundation director general Professor Judy Buttriss said, "Saturated fat is a health issue that needs addressing by consumers and food manufacturers alike.

"In order to reduce total intakes across the population to below 10% of total energy intake, the formulation of all sources of saturated fat -- even popular treats -- needs to be tackled.

"Any initiative to reduce the amount of saturated fat in the U.K. diet is a step in the right direction."

From the August 30, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition