Mars scientist touts eating Maltesers whole; Oxford study echoes multi-sensory biscuit guidance

A Mars Inc. associate product development scientist says the best way to enjoy Maltesers is to pop the entire candy into the mouth and crunch, rather than nibbling the outer chocolate or sucking the center. She said, "For optimal enjoyment, you should pop the entire treat in your mouth whole, before crunching down," adding that it helps cover the palate and creates a multi-sensory experience. She noted, "While the malt interior is undeniably tasty, it actually serves a clever purpose. It helps break down the chocolate, preventing that sticky, hard‑to‑clean feeling you get on the roof of your mouth from a solid piece of chocolate. It's the unique texture and balance between the chocolate and the malt centre that makes the sweet treat so iconic and loved by so many."

An accompanying poll of 2,000 Maltesers fans found that 53% suck the treats without chewing, while 26% nibble off the outer chocolate before eating the malt interior. The Mars guidance advocates eating the treats whole to stimulate taste receptors and trigger auditory cues from the crunch.

The new advice comes as researchers from Oxford University explored the best way to eat a Chocolate Digestive biscuit. Professor Charles Spence said, "Which side up a half-coated chocolate biscuit should be eaten is a topic that's been hotly debated, which is why we wanted to get to the bottom of the million dollar question. My research suggested that whilst there are merits in both ways, holding the biscuit chocolate side up first to maximise the visual experience and then switching it over as the biscuit is brought toward the mouth provides the best multi-sensory experience." The Oxford study outlines a six-step approach: remove the biscuit from the packet at room temperature; bring it toward your mouth with the chocolate side facing up; as you go to take a bite, turn the biscuit over so the chocolate is facing down; take a substantial bite with the chocolate directly hitting the tongue first; if you’re by yourself, eat initially with the mouth open to hear the crunching of the biscuit which makes the taste sensation more memorable; chew slowly after the first few mouthfuls to maximise the full taste experience.

The two strands of guidance arrive amid long-running debates about how best to enjoy chocolatey snacks. Maltesers were created by Forrest Mars Sr. in 1936, before going on sale the following year, marketed as energy balls. Today, about 187 million Maltesers treats are sold each year, the equivalent of roughly six pieces every second. The Oxford work on the Digestive biscuit complements broader efforts in food science to understand how texture, temperature and sound influence flavor perception, and it sits alongside corporate nutrition and product development research conducted by Mars and other institutions. The converging narratives underscore how even everyday confections can become cases study material in appetite research and sensory science, where perception is shaped not only by taste but by texture, crunch and visual cues.