Bars are ubiquitous. There is no problem to buy them and satisfy your sweet tooth. Mars type bars have gained a lot of fame. You can meet their better or worse ‘fakes’ and modified versions, such as deep-fried Mars, which I wrote about recently. Let’s see what the production of this type of bars looks like.
1. Preparation of the protein solution.
This stage consists in soaking the protein, namely albumin, with powdered sugar, starch syrup, sorbitol and aromatic substances.
Few people know that sorbitol in excess can cause painful intestinal cramps, gas and diarrhea. It is also not recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women, children, people suffering from phenylketonuria and irritable bowel syndrome.
2. Beating the previously prepared solutionwhat is technically called protein foam production.
3. Boiling the syrup solution starchy and sugar with added salt.
4. Preparation of nougat mass.
At this stage, the previously prepared sugar syrup is combined with the foam and liquefied fat. To make it even more sweet, powdered sugar is added, then powdered milk and optionally peanuts.
5. Preparation of caramel.
For this purpose, water, salt, condensed milk, corn syrup, confectionery fat, lecithin and sorbitol are mixed.
6. Body forming.
The bodies can be single-layer (nougat) or double-layer (nougat and milk-caramel mass). The ‘rugs’ prepared in this way are cooled.
7. Cutting the prepared strands into bars of appropriate length, dousing with specially prepared chocolate, called couverture, and cooling.
There is no surprise in the preparation of Mars bars. The scary thing, however, is that syrups, sugar, fat and even salt are added in most steps. We have all heard about the devastating effect of sugar more than once. It can be the cause of, among others. obesity, diabetes, cancer and tooth decay. Replacing some of the sugar with syrup will not help either glucose – fructose, which is recognized as one of the causes of the increase in obesity in the world. In addition, it can contribute to the development of diabetes, as glucose and fructose from sweets and drinks are easily absorbed. In the natural environment, simple sugars occur together with dietary fiber, which slows down their absorption. And that’s not all. The ubiquitous syrup can also lead to an increase in the concentration of uric acid in the blood, and consequently the formation of gout.
The vegetable fat used in confectionery is also no better. The most common oil is Palm oilpopular for its low price and high temperature stability. In 45 percent. it consists of harmful saturated fatty acids, which cause, among others. increase in bad cholesterol in the blood. There is really nothing good in it, after refining it is deprived of all valuable compounds, among others. vitamin E, vitamin A.
Sugar and low-quality fat are the perfect mix to lead to obesity and diseases such as atherosclerosis or diabetes. Bars, not only of the Mars type, should be consumed (if any) only occasionally.
Photo from: Christian Cable / iW / CC BY