Mars has designed a new type of chocolate that won’t melt in the sun

There’s nothing worse than treating yourself to a chocolate bar, only to have to frantically race against the clock before the whole thing melts all over your face. Candies are supposed to be a joy. You shouldn’t have to worry about where to wipe your sticky fingers while eating something so tasty. 

For as long as chocolate has been the go-to guilty pleasure, the public has been grappling with how best to deal with the melting situation. Eventually, it’s gotten to the point where most of us have given up ever finding a solution and are settling for feeling grubby as soon as we’ve guzzled down the last square of a Dairy Milk. However, hope may now be on the horizon, all thanks to one of the biggest names in confectionery. 

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Mars Wrigley, most famous for Celebrations, M&Ms and chewing gum, has this week revealed a new discovery that could forever change how we handle chocolate in hot weather. According to an international patent filed by the company, Mars has come up with a way to create heat-resistant chocolate. The implications for summer munching are obvious. 

Check out our recipe for a seriously delicious Snickers Hot Chocolate:

As the company explains in the patent itself: 

“Much of the desirable chocolate candy eating experience relates to the ability to melt quickly and completely to provide the consumer with a luscious and indulgent eating experience. This ability, in turn, can often be directly related to the use of cocoa butter as at least a fraction of the fatty component in candy. With a defined melting point very close to 37°C, cocoa butter provides the desirable melting profile on ingestion and is thus a great component of the desired overall consumption experience.”

Credit: Pixabay

What the new patent proposes is to replace the delicious yet troublesome cocoa butter with a substance called a “polyol”, which is capable of holding its shape and remaining solid in temperatures up to 105°C. This would result in a much more resistant chocolate, without sacrificing flavour.

Anyone who keeps a close eye on the confectionery industry will know that this isn’t the first time a major company has patented a heat-resistant design. As early as 2012, major players like Cadbury and Nestle submitted their own designs. However, since neither has yet been able to bring a product to market the hope is that the Mars announcement marks a major step forward.