Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Morrisons pull Mars' vegan chocolate range, including Galaxy Vegan, following labelling row
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Three of the UK’s major supermarkets are no longer stocking Mars vegan chocolate bars.
Shoppers will no longer be able to buy Galaxy Vegan chocolate or Vegan Topic or Bounty bars from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Morrisons. However, they are still available from Asda, Boots and Ocado.
Galaxy Vegan was one of the first plant-based chocolate bars to be released from a major confectionery brand. While people criticized the price versus the size of the bar, the bars were popular amongst shoppers.
More recently, the Vegan Galaxy Smooth white chocolate bar launched in supermarkets following rising demand for vegan white chocolate.
The delisting comes as supermarkets have raised concerns about the dairy-free chocolate bars being in the free-from aisle.
While Mars’ chocolate bars are made with 100% plant-based ingredients, the manufacturer could not guarantee that the bar was 100% dairy-free due to milk being present in the production factory.
Moreover, the three supermarkets felt that as the chocolate bars could not be labelled 100% dairy-free, they could no longer stock them in the free-from aisle.
Speaking with the Grocer, Morrisons explained that the range did not “meet the criteria of either our health & wellbeing category or our free-from one”.
Additionally, potential allergy issues were raised by the supermarkets.
Cow’s milk allergy can cause a range of reactions within the body, from classic allergies such as asthma to severe gastrointestinal bleeding.
“Committed to a long-term future in the free-from range”
Following further discussions, Mars refused to move its vegan chocolate bars to the regular confectionary aisle.
In a statement, a Mars spokesperson said the brand is “committed to a long-term future in the free-from range” and plans to continue to develop its portfolio in that category.
For now, the food company will have to rethink its manufacturing process in order to return to the free-from aisle.
Hungry for more? Check out our favourite vegan chocolate recipes…
Feature image credit: Galaxy
