From: Nathan Loofbourrow <loofbour@cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 23:57:15 -0500
To: danampersanderic+@andrew.cmu.edu
Subject: clark, goddamn! get off your ass!

For your edification. Eeyore had noted on the d&e instance that the D.L. Clark Co. (Pittsburgh, PA), manufacturers of the Clark bar, were no more.

My assertion, of course, is that the demand for CLARK bars is easily met by an existing Nestle product, BUTTERFINGER. To that end, I have provided a nutritional and ingredient-based comparison of the two products, as purchased at a local BP station.

I have not made a more aesthetic comparision at this point, such as size, shape, texture, taste, and "peanut butteriness". I would have done so, but I had sort of a late dinner. I hope that you, my colleagues, will be forgiving.

Let it be noted, of course, that Nestle is a gargantuan foodmaking conglomerate, producing a number of different brands of a large variety of foods which I can only describe as "non-chocolatey". In comparison, the Clark bar appeared to be the D.L. Clark's only product, which may explain their present financial state.

I'll note that unlike Pittsburgh, there are a large number of Clark bars still available in Ohio, and rapidly gathering dust.

I'm getting a publication credit out of this somehow,
nathan

Clark ("Chocolatey Coated Peanut Butter Crunch")

Serving Size 1 bar		Net Wt. 1.75 oz
Calories 240			Fat Cal. 90
Total Fat 10g			Sat. Fat 4g

Ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, ground roasted peanuts, partially
hydrogenated vegetable oils (palm kernel, cottonseed and/or soybean),
molasses, dutched cocoa (processed with alkali), nonfat milk, whey,
corn flour, invert sugar, salt, artifical flavors, lecitin, TBHQ and
citric acid (to maintain freshness).

Nestle's Butterfinger ("Crispety, Crunchety, Peanut-Buttery!")

Serving Size 1 bar		Net Wt. 2.1 oz
Calories 280			Fat Cal. 100
Total Fat 11g			Sat. Fat 6g

Ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, ground roasted peanuts, partially
hydrogenated palm kernel oil, cocoa, molasses, buttermilk solids,
confectioner's corn flakes, salt, skim milk, emulsifiers (mono- and
diglycerides and soy lecithin), modified cornstarch, artifical
flavors, yellow 5, red 40, TBHQ and citric acid (added to preserve
freshness).

From: Nathan Loofbourrow <loofbour@cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 1995 12:27:21 -0500
To: danampersanderic+@andrew.cmu.edu
Subject: Re: clark

Butterfinger

Chocolate: milky, heavy in cocoa

Crunchety peanut butter: Wafer-like layers of brittle candy and peanut butter.

Clark

Chocolate: darker, thicker, less tendency to melt

Peanut Butter Crunch: less crunchy, more peanut buttery, less sweet, more porous.

I stand corrected.

nathan

From: evans@ansoft.com (Elliott C. Evans)
Subject: Re: clark
To: danampersanderic+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dan&Eric Mailing List)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 17:55:56 EST

Not that I really care, but this whole Butterfinger & Clark bar comparison really intrigues me. I've adapted Nate's collected data into a side-by-side comparison of the two candy bars.

First of all, we have to note that the Butterfinger gives you more bang for the buck. You simply get more of what you're looking for in a candy bar (calories, fats, etc.) for the same price in most stores.

However, once we get into the ingredients list, we can see where Butterfinger has strayed from the fine American candy making tradition. "Confectioner's corn flakes"? Why would you want such a thing in a candy bar? Also, Clark uses "dutched" cocoa, which I guess means that it's not really Dutch, just dutchesque, but that's still better than what Nestle's calls cocoa.

Most interestingly, looking over the ingredients explains some of Nate's comments about the two bars. He says that the Butterfinger bar is "heavy in cocoa", which is true, at least compared to the Clark bar. It seems that part of the crunchyness of the Butterfinger bar is because of the corn flakes, and the Clark bar tastes more like peanuts because of it. Finally, the Butterfinger needs to use food dies to make the stuff look like peanut butter again after they are through with it, while Clark relies on using actual peanut butter.

CLARK					Nestle's BUTTERFINGER                  
---------------------------------------	---------------------------------------
Net Wt. 1.75 oz       			Net Wt. 2.1 oz                         
Calories per ounce - 137		Calories per ounce - 133               
Total Fat per ounce - 5.7g		Total Fat per ounce - 5.2g             	
Fat Cal. per ounce - 51          	Fat Cal. per ounce - 48                
Sat. Fat  per ounce - 2.3g          	Sat. Fat per ounce - 3g                
---------------------------------------	---------------------------------------
sugar					sugar                                 
corn syrup				corn syrup                            
ground roasted peanuts			ground roasted peanuts                
partially hydrogenated vegetable oils	partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil
					cocoa   
molasses				molasses
					buttermilk solids         
					confectioner's corn flakes
dutched cocoa
nonfat milk
whey
corn flour
invert sugar
salt					salt
					skim milk            
					emulsifiers          
					modified cornstarch  
artifical flavors			artifical flavors    
lecitin
					yellow 5            
					red 40              
TBHQ and citric acid			TBHQ and citric acid
---------------------------------------	---------------------------------------

Anyway, back to the music...

Elliott C. "Eeyore" Evans

CLARK                   Nestle's BUTTERFINGER        Hershey's 5TH AVENUE
----------------------- ---------------------------- ----------------------
Net Wt. 1.75 oz         Net Wt. 2.1 oz               Net Wt. 2 oz
Calories/oz - 137       Calories/oz - 133            Calories/oz - 140
Total Fat/oz - 5.7g     Total Fat/oz - 5.2g          Total Fat/oz - 6 g
Fat Cal./oz - 51        Fat Cal./oz - 48             Fat Cal./oz - 55
Sat. Fat/oz - 2.3g      Sat. Fat/oz - 3g             Sat. Fat/oz - 2.5 g
----------------------- ---------------------------- ----------------------
                                                     peanuts
                                                     milk chocolate*
sugar                   sugar                        sugar
corn syrup              corn syrup                   corn syrup
ground roasted peanuts  ground roasted peanuts
partially hydrogenated  partially hydrogenated palm  fractionated, hydrogenated
   vegetable oils          kernel oil                   vegetable oils**

                        cocoa   
molasses                molasses                     molasses
                        buttermilk solids         
                        confectioner's corn flakes
                                                     milk
dutched cocoa                                        cocoa
nonfat milk
whey
corn flour
invert sugar
salt                    salt                         salt
                        skim milk            
                        emulsifiers          
                        modified cornstarch
                                                     soya lecithin
artifical flavors       artifical flavors            artificial flavoring
lecitin
                        yellow 5            
                        red 40              
TBHQ and citric acid    TBHQ and citric acid         TBHQ and citric acid
----------------------- ---------------------------- -------------------------
* Milk chocolate contains sugar; cocoa butter; milk; chocolate; soya lecithin,
  an emulsifier; milk fat; and vanillin, an artificial flavoring
** Contains cottonseed and soybean oils