Granola bar

by Vicki Reich, from the August 2004 Newsletter

Granola bars seem to be hip again. It seems like it’s been years since there was a variety of bars to choose from in the Natural Products industry. Now suddenly everyone seems to be coming out with a new bar. Of course, this got my curiosity up and I had to do a taste test. Being the fabulous procrastinator that I am, I waited too long to bring them to spinning for the usual crew to do the testing. Instead, I rounded up a bunch of willing staff members at the Co-op and we had granola bars for lunch. We tried seven different granola bars, almost all of which were berry flavored. Here’s what we found out.

Nature’s Path Organic Apricot ‘n Nut ($3.75 for 5 bars) is the only bar we tried without berries. It has a very oaty taste and is very chewy. It is one of the most basic tasting bars and definitely tasted healthy.

Cascadian Farms Organic Harvest Berry Bar ($4.15 for 6 bars) looks good with a nice shine and lots of pieces of fruit. It is sweet and chewy with a real berry flavor. This was our favorite.

Nature’s Choice Triple Berry Cereal Bar ($2.75 for 6 bars) is dry at first bite but then you get to the creamy berry center. We all thought it was like a fig bar and would be good with a glass of milk.

Health Valley Fat-Free Blueberry Granola Bar ($2.85 for 4 bars) tastes like a blueberry muffin and is very sweet and chewy. The blueberry flavor was so strong, it almost tasted fake.

Health Valley Moist and Chewy Wild Berry Granola Bar ($2.85 for 6 bars) tastes the sweetest and is the chewiest of the bars we tried. It also has a very strong and somewhat fake berry taste.

Nature’s Path EnziroKidz Organic Berry Crispy Rice Bar ($3.45 for 6 bars) is like a Rice Crispy Treat only better. It’s not too sweet with a great berry taste. We all agreed that this would be our indulgent choice.

Barbara’s Puffin Blueberry Yogurt Cereal Bar ($3.85 for 6 bars) was the last bar we tried. It’s not too sweet with a good crunch and the taste of Puffins cereal (no surprise there). It has a good berry taste and is a hearty bar.

Since granola bars are supposed to be a healthy snack, I thought I’d do a nutritional comparison between the seven bars we tested. Here’s what I found out for equal portions of each bar, rounded to the nearest gram.

	Serving Size (g)	Calories	Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Sugars (g)	Protein (g)
Nature's Path	50	225	9	81	35	4	11	4
Cascadian Farms	50	186	3	186	39	1	19	3
Nature's Choice	50	162	2	88	34	3	18	1
Health Valley Fat Free	50	167	0	12	42	4	17	2
Health Valley Moist & Chewy	50	172	2	9	38	3	17	3
EnviroKidz	50	196	5	71	37	1	12	2
Barbara's	50	162	2	122	32	4	11	7

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