Chocolate Comparison Dark vs Milk Chocolate vs Snickers. Below is a comparison of typical ingredients in an unprocessed chocolate bar against the American favorite Snickers. As you’ll see the fact that Mars chooses an unusual portion size 48 grams makes a quick glance comparison tricky. Good thing we are handy with Microsoft Excel
Snickers Chocolate Bar Information
Mars chooses to list their serving size as 48 grams. Most chocolate bars are sold at 30 grams. Reviewing their nutrition label reveals the following table:
Snickers Bar Nutrition
Note the amount sugar in a snickers bar| Nutrition Facts | 48 grams | Convert to 30 grams | % DV* | DV We Recommend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 220 | 137.5 | 7% | 2000 |
| Total Fat | 11 | 6.875 | 8% | 88 |
| Saturated Fat | 4 | 2.5 | 9% | 29 |
| Trans Fat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cholesterol | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sodium | 115 | 71.875 | 3% | 1200 |
| Total Carbohydrate | 29 | 18.125 | 9% | 200 |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 | 0.625 | 3% | 25 |
| Sugars | 25 | 15.625 | 45% | 35 |
| Protein | 4 | 2.5 | 2% | 160 |
Dark Chocolate Bar Nutrition
Note the drop in sugar vs a Snickers bar| Nutrition Facts | 48 grams | Convert to 30 grams | % DV* | DV We Recommend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | - | 170 | 9% | 2000 |
| Total Fat | - | 11 | 13% | 88 |
| Saturated Fat | - | 7 | 9% | 29 |
| Trans Fat | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cholesterol | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sodium | - | 0 | 30% | 1200 |
| Total Carbohydrate | - | 14 | 7% | 200 |
| Dietary Fiber | - | 3 | 12% | 25 |
| Sugars | - | 8 | 23% | 35 |
| Protein | - | 2 | 1% | 160 |
Milk Chocolate Bar Nutrition
Note the increase in sugar vs a Dark Chocolate Bar| Nutrition Facts | 48 grams | Convert to 30 grams | % DV* | DV We Recommend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | - | 170 | 9% | 2000 |
| Total Fat | - | 11 | 13% | 88 |
| Saturated Fat | - | 7 | 9% | 29 |
| Trans Fat | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cholesterol | - | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sodium | - | 30 | 1% | 1200 |
| Total Carbohydrate | - | 13 | 7% | 200 |
| Dietary Fiber | - | 2 | 8% | 25 |
| Sugars | - | 10 | 29% | 35 |
| Protein | - | 2 | 1% | 160 |
Typical Ingredients in Minimally Processed Chocolate
- Cane Sugar
- Whole Milk Powder
- Organic Chocolate
- Organic Cocoa Butter
- Soy Lecithin
- Vanilla
Snickers Bar Ingredients
- Sugar
- Cocoa Butter
- Chocolate
- Lactose
- Skim Milk
- Milk Fat
- Soy Lecithin
- Artificial Flavor
- Peanuts
- Corn Syrup
- Sugar
- Skim Milk
- Butter
- Milk Fat
- Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
- Lactose
- Salt
- Egg whites
- Vanilla
Bias Disclosure
We selected Snickers simply because it's one of the best selling chocolate bars in US history. Similar highly processed chocolates have similar nutrition issues. We selected Endangered Species Chocolate because of it's support of Fair Trade organizations and because they make really good tasting chocolate with minimal processed ingredients. Neither company sponsored or paid money for this article.
If you want to check out their chocolate bars on Amazon... here are the links. Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Snickers
Paul on Diet Choices
Diets are hard and most people try to do too much too fast. We teach making sequential positives changes that lead to improve your nutrition overtime. Losing weight and building muscle works when you make a series of incremental changes that you can stick with. So instead of grabbing that Snickers bar and sending your insulin into shock with a whopping 25 grams of sugar, get the dark chocolate bar instead.
As shown in the charts, we provided DV rates based on a 2000 calories diet using the ratios that we recommend. USDA numbers are more generous. The USDA also doesn’t specify on nutrition labels the total sugar or protein you should seek to have daily.
PaulPaul on Chocolate
Chocolate is very much and all or nothing kind of food. That is because it is highly addictive. I generally recommend people try to completely drop out of their diet rather than rationing it. If chocolate is important, go for at least 75% dark since the fiber:sugar ratio is much better.
Yes it has flavanoids and there are some studies that it is an anti-inflammatory, but there are better choices. Chocolate has next to zero value when it comes to vitamins and minerals and is very calories dense (2 pips generally has about 100 calories.)
Additionally, most people are likely to eat a whole bag of MM’s or the whole bar, rather then just eating 100 calorie serving. One of the most important tips I can give you about chocolate is that you need to realize they are not all the same. High grade, unprocessed chocolate like those shown in our chocolate blog post are way better than the processed versions. See the post for the images and description. The reason for this is that processed chocolate often use industrial ingredients like corn syrups, hydrogenated soy bean oil, etc. And truth to be told, I am talking about your childhood brands like Hershey’s, Reese’s, etc. To beat the drum, one step louder, you should be even more careful when you don’t know the sourcing of the chocolate in your food. I honestly don’t know what goes into the chocolate glaze that Dunkin Doughnuts uses, but my guess is it not organic unprocessed chocolate. Unprocessed is chocolate is way more expensive, and the general public cannot taste the difference. So most companies go where are the profits are, and that is in using highly processed ingredients.Paul