£180k study to see if deep-fried bars cause bigotry
IT is an infamous Scots ‘delicacy’ that has become a global symbol of the country’s diet.
Now the deep-fried Mars Bar is to be the focus of a three-year study that will explore the ‘ bigotry’ surrounding i t after an academic said she believes the sweet treat could encourage stereotypes and prejudice.
Ever since the gooey chocolate bar encased in batter was first served up in a chip shop in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, in 1992, its reputation spread worldwide, with fans said to include Prince William.
Dr Christine Knight, a senior research fellow with the Wellcome Trust charity funding the £177,088 study, Stalking the Deep-Fried Mars Bar, is to investigate why the treat sparks such strong reactions.
Dr Knight, a nutritionist at Edinburgh University, arrived i n Scotland f rom Australia eight years ago with l i ttle knowledge of Scottish dietary habits.
She said: ‘I can trace the moment when I became aware of a certain attitude to it to a specific conversation when I was at a wedding in England and someone said to me, “Oh, but doesn’t everyone in Scotland eat deep-fried Mars bars?” The more I looked into it the more I realised the deep-fried Mars bar is actually the flashpoint to talk about national stereotypes in the UK.
‘But while many stereotypes have a grain of truth, the deep-fried Mars bar myth is used as lazy shorthand and does not necessarily go about the business of unpacking the real socio- economic problems of inequalities which are a factor in diet.’
Celebrity chef Nick Nairn said: ‘We have a kind of paradox here, where we have one of the greatest larders on our doorstep with the greatest fisheries, wonderful agriculture, wild game and venison, but are known for the cursed deep-fried Mars bar. If this research helps get rid of it, it is welcome.’