Categories: HealthLifestyle

Nestle BAR ONE is not an ‘energy bar’

Nestle chocolate brand BAR ONE is receiving a lot of heat after their new ‘fitness’ advertising campaign promoted their chocolate bar great for exercise and longevity during your day.

The ad contains a fitness influencer and personal trainer Juanita Khumalo who helps the campaign promote BAR ONE presumable as an energy bar to keep her moving during her day and help her during her fitness routines.

Social media was not impressed with BAR ONE trying to promote its chocolate caramel bar as an ‘energy’ bar good for fitness and wellness.

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Dietician Caylin Goodchild said: “Marketing a chocolate bar as a “healthy snack” does come as a bit of a shock. Endurance exercise or sport does require additional carb intake (usually in the form of refined carbs), but your everyday gym-goer would likely want to skip the refined carbs and rather opt for a whey protein or milk, or something to assist muscle repair.

“A Bar-One does supply energy, but this is mainly from sugar and unhealthy fats, whereas healthy, nutritious options (of carbs and fat) can rather be chosen. While chocolate, in moderation, can be enjoyed by individuals, it doesn’t seem correct to market it as a “health food”.”

Zweli Mnisi head of public relations at Nestle East and Southern Africa responded saying BAR ONE has a history of its well-known slogan ‘energy for a 25 hour day’.

” NESTLÉ BAR·ONE is positioned as an on-the-go chocolate treat. With an intention to encourage South Africans to consume treats responsibly, we recently modified our 90g pack into a 2 x 45g pack in order to help consumers understanding right portion sizes.

“An energy bar is by definition, a packaged food intended to boost physical energy.  Typically, it would contain a combination of fats, carbohydrates and proteins targeted at people who require quick energy but do not have time for a meal.

“Based on this definition, any chocolate could be consumed as an ‘energy bar’ but NESTLÉ BAR·ONE is not positioned as such,” he said.

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Published by
By Sandisiwe Mbhele
Read more on these topics: Health