February 07, 2008
Snickers Charged

This morning, I stopped by the 7-Eleven for coffee with Michele and saw something new.

Yes, it's a Snickers bar with caffiene and taurine. Of course I picked a couple up for Cruft Labs.

Previously, I've discussed Buzz Bites, but Snickers is a mainstream brand. Mars Company is seriously testing the waters here with caffeinated food.

I love the icon of a charging rhino on the package!

Included with the Snickers bar are the following stimulants:

60 mg caffiene - equivalent to to a can of Mountain Dew
250 mg taurine - 1/4 of the taurine in a can of Red Bull
0.2 mg vitamin B6 - 10% of the RDA
0.6 μg vitamin B12 - 10% of the RDA

I was hoping for something cool on the outside of the Snickers, like a rhino or something, but it just looked like a Snickers bar.

The inside of the Snickers Charged looks pretty much exactly like a regular Snickers bar. Some kind of color or sparkle would have been neat. The Shrek version was at least green...

It tasted exactly like a Snickers. I couldn't detect any of the metallic caffeine taste that I've sometime found in other caffeinated foods. If I didn't know, I would have thought it was just a plain Snickers bar.

The idea is interesting at least. With the candy costing less than a buck, it's a cheaper caffeine fix than coffee, soda, or an energy drink. In the afternoon, the caffeine might actually ward of the sugar crash of the 25 grams of sugar you just ate.

Posted by michael at February 07, 2008 08:53 PM



Comments

I definitely noticed a bitter aftertaste. Not so much that I wouldn't eat it, but I don't really want my caffeine in the afternoon when I feel like having my candy bars.

Posted by: cybele [http://www.typetive.com/candyblog] on February 7, 2008 10:07 PM

I wonder how many calories are in it. Think they'll come out with a diet version? ;-)

Posted by: Mike [http://www.lefauxfrog.org/] on February 8, 2008 6:06 AM

Cybele, I bow to your superior candy tasting skills. I expected the caffeine taste, but didn't taste it myself. I'm sure you're right it's there.

Mike, the wrapper says it's 250 calories for the full bar.

Posted by: Michael [http://cruftbox.com] on February 8, 2008 6:15 AM

Does Taurine actually DO anything??

I never really got into the energy-drink craze until I tried the sugar-free versions. The caffeine High is so much nicer w/o the massive sugar crash...

Posted by: jmv [http://www.octopushat.wordpress.com] on February 8, 2008 10:29 AM

Taurine is in cat food too.

Posted by: Yoshi [] on February 11, 2008 4:35 PM

Taurine is in cat food too.

Posted by: Yoshi [] on February 11, 2008 4:35 PM

Hi. Found your blog via Wil Wheaton's. :)

Anyways, in Australia/New Zealand, there was a similar bar called 'Viking' by Cadbury - essentially a Mars bar with caffeine and taurine. It lasted for a few months (more in Australia) before being discontinued.

Funnily enough, the Cadbury factory in Dunedin, NZ has the wrapper as a sort of 'carpet'. I asked one of the tour guides (they do factory tours, y'see) about the absence of the Viking and they said it was to do with children eating it and going hyper.

Kids, eh. :p

Posted by: Matt [http://www.expat.geek.nz] on February 12, 2008 12:14 AM

You make my day!

Posted by: Freeman [http://www.freedom.com/] on February 26, 2008 9:38 AM

Why would you want a candybar to sparkle anyways?

Posted by: Cancer [] on March 18, 2008 10:11 PM
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