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Pure Organic: Trail Mix

admin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:47:22 +0000

Pure Bar’s trail mix flavor is one of 6 in the current line-up of raw, vegan bars. True for the entire line-up, the packaging does a great job of conveying the flavor and the contents. Trail mix contains dates, agave nectar, cashews, apples, raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, cacao nibs, walnuts and rice protein concentrate. All the ingredients are organic. The bar is gluten-free, raw and vegan. Nutritionally, the bar delivers 200 Kcal, 3g of fiber and 5g of protein. The bar is very moist. The dominant flavor is actually the cacao. If you love cacao, which we do, then you’ll love this bar. There is a bit of sour note to the bar, which is something we don’t expect from a trail mix flavor. We realize however that you cannot put raw fruits like apples and raisins in a bar and not have some acidity come through. It would be nice to get another couple grams of fiber in the bar too. Overall, trail mix is another solid flavor from Pure Bar.

4 out of 5 stars

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Post tags: agave, apples, bar, cashews, dates, gluten free, organic, pure, raisins, rice protein, vegan

PranaBar: Shakti Raspberry Pomegranate

admin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:05:25 +0000

Shakti’s raspberry pomegranate bar is made by Divine Foods of Escondido, CA. The package explains that, in the Sanskrit language, Prana means vital energy and Shakti means sacred force. The bar has a solid nutritional profile. It packs 200 kcal, 5g of fiber and 3g of protein. It is also one of those bars where the ingredient list is so short that we don’t mind typing it out: Agave Syrup, Date Paste, Almond butter, Dried Apples, Coconut, Chia Seeds, Amaranth, Freeze Dried Raspberries, Pomegranate Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt. The bar is certified organic and gluten free. Here’s the problem. The bar we opened and tried had a definite soapy taste, particularly toward the finish of each bite. Looking at the ingredients, it is very hard to figure out exactly why this is. Our best guess is it is the coconut. This aspect basically ruins an otherwise fine bar for us. If anyone out there has a guess at what is causing that soapy flavor, please leave a comment. This is not the first bar we’ve tried has this issue and we would love to identify the ingredient or mix of ingredients that is to blame.

2 out of 5 stars

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Post tags: agave, apples, bar, dates, pomegranate, raspberry

Go Raw: Live Pumpkin Bar

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:12:33 +0000

GoRaw Live Pumpkin is definitely one of the healthiest packaged foods we’ve ever eaten. It’s not often that a brand puts its ingredients front and center on the package in large font – clearly, they have nothing to hide. Here’s what it contains: sprouted organic pumpkin seeds, sprouted organic flax seeds, organic date, organic agave nectar, Celtic sea salt. The bar is free of gluten, GMO, Trans-fats, and cholesterol. One of the really interesting aspects to its formulation is that the seeds are technically alive, due to the fact that they were dried at less than 105 degrees Fahrenheit. The bar delivers an incredible 8g of fiber and 14g of protein. Some of the disclosures on the package, while forthright and honest, are a bit unnerving. The manufacture mentions mold, insects, and small rocks as some of the things that this bar is susceptible to due to the uncooked, unpreserved, unprocessed way in which it was prepared. We feel the folks at GoRaw could have been a little more generous with the date/agave mix, as the bar is a bit dry, but we recognize that date/agave can bump up sugar levels in the bar. Goraw clearly chose to land on the side of less is more. Overall, this is a product that should have health nuts jumping up and down and, fortunately for GoRaw, it tastes pretty nice to boot.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Post tags: agave, flax seeds, healthy, pumpkin, raw

Full Bar: Cinnamon Roll

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:06:20 +0000

Full Bar’s Cinnamon Roll bar is a 100% natural bar that markets itself as being “inspired by weigh loss surgery principles” and “developed by a leading weight loss surgeon.” On our beverage industry site, BevNET.com, we’ve seen lots of marketers try to position themselves as being people with M.D.s, but it hasn’t worked so well (what’s so wrong with a food scientist anyway?). That, combined with this bar’s massive size and light weight (1.59 ounces) made us very eager to give this product a try. Opening the wrapper, we noticed that the bar was sticky and difficult to remove. Scissors were required to get it out. The bar uses puffed wheat (along with soy crisps and soy protein) and honey, agave, and brown rice syrup provide the sweetness and coating. The flavors are further enhanced with natural flavors, salt, and cinnamon. However, it seems a bit far from being a replacement for a cinnamon roll. All in all, it’s a tasty bar that has a taste that’s reminiscent of a sweetened breakfast cereal, so we think that it’s pretty likeable. Nutritionally, the bar has 150 calories, 2g of fat, 6g of protein, 5g of fiber, calcium, sodium, and iron. Drinking it with water, the bar certainly makes you feel full – so in that sense it works. As for the packaging, they’ve done a nice job of cleanly arranging the elements on the front of the wrapper. However, showing an image of a cinnamon roll on a product that’s geared at people who are trying to lose weight seems a bit much. We’re also not convinced that a weight loss surgeon’s ability to perform medical procedures bears relevance to their ability to formulate shelf stable food products. Overall, we like the concept and like the flavor, but the visual execution could use some refinement.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Post tags: agave, bar, cinnamon, fullbar, honey, Protein, soy

Pure: Cherry Cashew Bar

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:34:14 +0000

This bar is made with ingredients that are USDA Organic, raw, vegan, and gluten free, which helps make it live up to its “for all people” tag line. There’s a pleasant base of date and almond flavor to the mix, which has been sweetened with agave and has a slight crunch from small chunks of walnuts throughout. The cherry flavor is subtle, adding a nice tart flavor to the otherwise earthy tasting bar. We’re definitely pleased to see that they didn’t make it too “fruity” tasting. Nutritionally, this 1.7 ounce bar packs a fair amount in, including 400mg of omega 3, 4g of organic fiber, 6g and protein, 200 calories, 9g of fat, and vitamins and minerals. Packaging has a relatively simple style of presentation to it, with a white wrapper that’s decorated with a yellow illustration of a female face. It’s an appealing design that has a definite vibe of health and nutrition to it. The rest of the wrapper has a lot of text on it, but in this case, it all logically fits together as opposed to creating clutter. Overall, an exceptional tasting bar that delivers the perfect balance of flavor and nutrition.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

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Post tags: 4g, 6g, agave, almond flavor, almonds, bar, calories, cashew, cashews, cherries, cherry flavor, chunks, crunch, female face, fiber, flavor, flavorings, flavors, gluten, gluten free, health and nutrition, illustrations, Nutrition, omega 3, organic, ounce, perfect balance, Protein, raw, raw vegan, simple style, sweetener, sweeteners, tag line, tart flavor, tastes, usda, vegan, vibe, vitamins, vitamins and minerals, walnuts