You couldn’t make it up !

The deep-fried Mars bar vs porridge: Two Scottish favourites go head to head.

 

The health effects of that fabled Scottish snack, the deep-fried Mars bar, are to be tested in a clinical trial which will form the first scientific study into the impact that the snack, reputedly most popular in Glasgow, has on the human body.

Researchers at Glasgow's Western Infirmary hospital will compare the effects with those that occur after eating a more conservative, and healthier, Scottish dish – a bowl of porridge.

"The deep-fried chocolate bar... has been cited as a symbol of all that is wrong with the high-fat, high-sugar Scottish diet," says Professor Matthew Walters, the lead consultant for stroke in West Glasgow, who is director of the Scottish Stroke Research Network. "Despite the snack's reputation, no medical research has been performed to examine the effects of consuming a deep-fried chocolate bar on the human body, and that is what we are going to do," he explained.

Folklore has it that the deep-fried Mars was first eaten in 1995 in Aberdeen. By 2004, a survey of 627 fish-and-chip shops in Scotland, published in The Lancet, showed that 22 per cent sold deep-fried Mars bars. Average weekly sales were 23 bars, but 10 shops reported selling up to 200, with a typical price of 60p. Other foods that the fish-and-chip shops had been asked to fry include Snickers bars, bananas, and Creme Eggs.

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A Mars spokesperson said: “We are really flattered that customers of Carron Fish Bar like our product so much that it has now become a flagship product for the store. ”No application for a protected geographical indication has been filed to date. “Should an application be filed, unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to support it as deep-frying one of our products would go against our commitment to promoting healthy, active lifestyles.”