Work, rest and pray for a Mars bar

The Vegetarian Society started a propaganda war last week against MasterFoods, which produces Mars Bars, Bounty, Snickers, Twix, Maltesers and Minstrels among others. The whey used in these treats now contains animal rennet, it revealed.

This vegetarian revelation was of profound consequence to carnivorous Jews. Our trademark dish is, after all, chicken soup and our salt beef and chopped liver are revered. As a rule, if a product is to be kosher, any animal ingredient must come from a kosher-killed animal. Rennet does not.

There was unrest in synagogues and school playgrounds. On the Facebook website some students even threatened to leave the UK for the US or Israel. The London Beth Din, the religious court of the Chief Rabbi, had to move to restore calm after being inundated with inquiries and outraged phone calls.

Its statement, published on the internet, took the view that while vegetarians object to the rennet on ethical grounds, Jewish law permits minute quantities. Result: widespread relief. One rabbi, reunited with his chocolate, decided to give congregants “a Mars a day” to help them “work, rest and pray”. And it has done wonders for the Chief Rabbi’s speaking schedule. “Chief Rabbi on Mars,” declared one notice.

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