How Many Calories Are in a Snickers Bar?

If you've ever gone trick-or-treating, you're probably familiar with Snickers Minis — the miniature version of the popular Snickers bars made by the Mars confectionary company.

Because they're packaged in bite-sized portions, they make a particularly good treat. (Everything in moderation, right?)

Here's how Snickers Minis compares to some of the other Snickers bars out there.

The King-size Snickers bar was discontinued in 2012 in efforts to help reduce portion sizes and help people eat less added sugar, according to CNN Money. It was replaced by the Sharing Size package, which offers two 220-calorie bars with the idea that you can share one with a pal.

One King-size Snickers was around 4 ounces and clocked in at around 555 calories, per the USDA. Now, one bar in the Sharing Size pack (which totals 3.29 ounces) contains:

• ‌Calories‌: 220 calories
  
• ‌Total fat‌: 11 g
  
  • ‌Saturated fat‌: 4 g
• ‌Cholesterol‌: <5 mg
  
• ‌Sodium‌: 115 mg
  
• ‌Total carbs‌: 29 g
  
  • ‌Dietary fiber‌: 1 g, 4% Daily Value (DV)
  • ‌Sugar‌: 25 g, 46% DV
• ‌Protein‌: 4 g

According to the Snickers website, a regular Snickers bar is 1.86 ounces in size and contains 280 calories. Sure, they're tasty, but to cut down some of the calories, try opting for Mini Snickers or Fun-Size Snickers instead.

One regular-sized Snickers bar contains:

• ‌Calories‌: 250
  
• ‌Total fat‌: 12 g
  
  • ‌Saturated fat‌: 4.5 g
• ‌Cholesterol‌: <5 mg
  
• ‌Sodium‌: 125 mg
  
• ‌Total carbs‌: 32 g
  
  • ‌Dietary fiber‌: 1 g, 4% Daily Value (DV)
  • ‌Sugar‌: 28 g, 52% DV
• ‌Protein‌: 4 g

Mini Snickers are the bite-sized version of the snack (Snickers Bites debuted in 2014, but were since discontinued). According to the Snickers website, one serving of Mini Snickers — which is three pieces (18 ounces) — contains:

• ‌Calories‌: 130
  
• ‌Total fat‌: 6 g
  
  • ‌Saturated fat‌: 2.5 g
• ‌Cholesterol‌: 0 mg
  
• ‌Sodium‌: 65 mg
  
• ‌Total carbs‌: 17 g
  
  • ‌Dietary fiber‌: <1 g, 0% Daily Value (DV)
  • ‌Sugar‌: 14 g, 26% DV
• ‌Protein‌: 2 g

Finally, Fun-size Snickers are around half an ounce. According to Snickers, one Fun-Size Snickers bar (17 grams) contains:

• ‌Calories‌: 80
  
• ‌Total fat‌: 4 g
  
  • ‌Saturated fat‌: 1.5 g
• ‌Cholesterol‌: 0 mg
  
• ‌Sodium‌: 40 mg
  
• ‌Total carbs‌: 10 g
  
  • ‌Dietary fiber‌: 0 g, 0% Daily Value (DV)
  • ‌Sugar‌: 9 g, 16% DV
• ‌Protein‌: 1 g

There's no doubt that Snickers bars are a very tasty sweet snack. And the smaller-sized bars (like the Fun-Size or Minis) aren't too high in calories. But all Snickers bars are very rich in sugar.

Keep in mind that sugars are a type of carbohydrate. They can be found naturally in foods like fruits, or they can be added to products like candy, ice cream, yogurts and baked goods.

It's perfectly fine to enjoy sugar in moderation, but you should keep an eye on your added sugar intake. Most Americans get too much added sugar: about 17 teaspoons — which nets them about 270 calories — per day, per the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 recommend that you get less than 10 percent of your calories from added sugars. So if you eat 2,000 calories each day, this means you should get fewer than 200 calories per day from added sugar (which comes out to around 50 grams of sugar).

However, other institutions are stricter in their recommendations. For instance, the American Heart Association recommends that people assigned female at birth (AFAB) get a maximum of 100 calories (25 grams) per day from added sugars, while people assigned male at birth (AMAB) can have a maximum of 150 calories (36 grams) per day.

Too much added sugars can make you gain weight and increase your likelihood of developing diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, per the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The bottom line: It's fine to eat a Snickers candy bar occasionally. Just be aware that most of the sugars in Snickers are added sugars.

If you eat more than one Snickers bar or more than one serving size of Mini Snickers or Fun-Size Snickers, you may exceed your recommended daily intake of added sugars.