Pure Bar: Cranberry Orange

Pure Bar’s Cranberry Orange flavor is one of 6 flavors in its line-up of organic, gluten free flavors. This is one of the best in the group. The citrus nature of this bar makes the sour notes that come with fruit bars totally acceptable. The bar is extremely fragrant and the orange is very strong. The bar uses orange zest and organic orange flavor to hit the strong citrus notes it hits. The cranberry flavor get’s a little drowned out in the orange, but as a whole it really works. To us, this bar tastes like nut-bread you might get around the holidays. It is nutritionally sound at 190 Kcal, 3g fiber and 6g of protein. The label is attractive. There is really nothing about this bar that isn’t top notch.

5 out of 5 stars

Pure Organic: Trail Mix

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

Re Bar: Fruit and Veggie

ReBAR delivers the equivalent of 8 servings of organic fruits and veggies. The ingredient list on the bar is pretty impressive. It includes apple, raisin paste, a vegetable blend (mix of 17 different vegetables), organic rice syrup, high oleic sunflower oil and natural flavor. Given it’s ingredients, it is not surprising that the bar has a similar texture/density to a fruit roll up. The appearance of the bar is rather off-putting as some element in it has little yellow fibers that look like hairs embedded in the bar. The flavor is hard to place, but certain the apples and raisins come through. At 150 kcal, the bar delivers has .5g fat, 3g of fiber and 1g of protein. For something that really doesn’t deliver much fiber and protein, this bar should taste better. Why not pair down the mix of ingredients and come up with a paste that tastes awesome? The other odd thing about the product is its decision to go with a stone age style font. It’s as if you are expecting to see Fred Flintstone to pop out from behind something on the package. For people looking to get a huge dose of fruits and veggies, this bar is great. But for everyone else, it really seems like you can get better tasting options elsewhere.

3 out of 5 stars

PranaBar: Shakti Raspberry Pomegranate

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

CLIF® BAR “Fun Ride to the Academy” Gives Bike Riders Free Admission to California Academy of Sciences

BERKELEY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CLIF^® BAR is giving people a chance to pedal their way into one of San Francisco’s greatest adventures for free. As part of its 2 Mile Challenge bike advocacy program, CLIF BAR is offering free admission to the California Academy of Sciences (valued at up to $24.95 per ticket) for the first 100 folks who arrive by bicycle. The CLIF BAR “Fun Ride to the Academy” takes place on Sunday, August 22. More details are below:

WHAT:

• Free admission to California Academy of Sciences for first 100 people who arrive on bicycles
• Free bike valet, offered by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. to the first 100 people who arrive by bicycle
• Free CLIF BAR samples to the first 200 people who arrive by bicycle

WHEN:

• Sunday, August 22, 2010; 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Coincides with San Francisco’s Sunday Streets event – Golden Gate Park to the Great Highway will be closed to cars

WHERE:

• California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park
• CLIF BAR ticket distribution and bike valet located on the east side of the Academy (the side farthest away from the Music Concourse band shell)

WHY:

• Bike riding is fun for the entire family
• CLIF BAR is committed to fighting climate change through its 2 Mile Challenge bike advocacy program. This nationwide campaign encourages people to ride a bike instead of driving a car for trips two miles or less to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change.
• In the U.S., 40 percent of all urban trips are two miles or less, and 90 percent of those trips are made by car.
• Every mile traveled by bike instead of car prevents one pound of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, according to the Climate Leadership Initiative at the University of Oregon. Car-generated carbon dioxide is one of the leading causes of global climate change.

About Clif Bar & Company

Clif Bar & Company is a leading maker of nutritious, all-natural, organic foods and drinks, including CLIF® BAR energy bar, LUNA®, The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women®; and CLIF Kid®, Nourishing Kids in Motion®. Focused on sports nutrition and healthy snacks, the company is committed to sustaining its people, brands, business, community and planet. (www.clifbar.com)

Amazing Grass: Chocolate Whole Food

Amazing Grass’s Chocolate Whole Food Energy Bar  is part of its 4 bar Green Superfood line-up. We tried this immediately after a rather unpleasant experience with Odwalla’s Superfood bar, so we were not expecting much. Much to the contrary, this is an excellent product. The fact that it is coated in organic dark chocolate might lead some to say it is cheating a bit, but the chocolate coating helps deliver an amazing list of ingredients. Third on the list of ingredients, after dates and agave nectar, is Amazing Grass’ Green Superfood mix, which contains the following: Organic Wheat Grass, Organic Barley Grass, Organic Alfalfa, Organic Spirulina, Organic Spinach, Organic Chlorella, Organic Broccoli, Organic Acai, Organic Maca, Organic Carrot, Organic Beet, Raspberry, Organic Rose Hips, Pineapple, Green Tea, Organic Flax Lignans, L. Adidophilus, Alpha and Beta Amylase, Protease, Lipase, Lactase, Cellulase, and Organic Peppermint). The bar has a nice chew to it, which a little texture. Frankly, it could use a little more crunch, but overall it is pleasantly smooth. Nutritionally, it is 230 calories, 5 grams of protein, and 4 grams of fiber. The label is easy to read and communicates exactly what you can expect. Given what this bar packs into its insides, we’re fine with handicapping it’s star rating a little, not that it wouldn’t do just fine on it’s own.

5 out of 5 stars

Oskri Fiber Bar: Almonds and Cranberries

When we read the nutrition label for Oskri Fiber Bar Almonds and Cranberries, it made us a bit nervous. 13g of fiber in a 1.5 oz serving! Not to worry though. The bar itself is a rather dry but tasty mix of Chicory root extract, Almonds, Cranberries, Rice crisp, amaranth, buck wheat, pumpkin seeds. It is made by Oskri Organics in Lake Mills, Wisconsin though the multi-lingual label might lead some to believe it’s origin to be something slightly more exotic. It is fully labeled in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Arabic. We question the wisdom of using such a one-size fits all package for the US market at least. Finally, the package design is an appalling montage of maple leaves and dull fonts set on a pink background. So underemphasized is the flavor text on the front label, that it wasn’t until the last step of writing this review that we realized the flavor for this bar was not “Fiber Bar” but rather “Almonds and Cranberries”. Label design aside, the bar is pretty tasty, and anything this good with this much fiber is alright by us.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Clif Bar: Black Cherry Almond

Clif’s Black Cherry Almond is part of its energy bar line-up. It’s a substantial 2.4 oz and 250 calories. The product has a whopping 10g of protein and a respectable  5g of fiber. The bar is organic rice syrup mixed with soy, oats, almonds, cranberries and cherries. The mix is moist but crunchy. Almond flavor really comes through, although we didn’t taste much cherry. It should be noted that this bar also manages to hold a large mix of supplemented vitamins and minerals without it adversely affecting the flavor. The label indicates that Clif is part of 1% for the Planet, which means that Clif donates 1% of revenues to green charities (note: this is total revenue, not just profits).  This means Clif is a company that puts their money where their mouth is. We love this product and we admire Clif.

5 out of 5 stars

Sun Valley: Chocolate Chocolate Chip

Sun Valley’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip bar is an oat in rice syrup bar which also contains peanut butter, semi-sweet chocolate, maple syrup, pumpkins seeds, almonds, walnuts, rice flour, apples, sesame seeds, flaxseed, and cocoa. It has a nice chocolate flavor, and then nuts really come though. The peanut butter, though high on the list of ingredients, is not very noticeable. The bar is not chocolate coated, but rather contains chocolate chips in a chocolate-flavored mix. The overall taste is great. The long list of nuts and seeds in the bar don’t really interrupt that chocolate experience, but they do add to the bar’s fat content (11g) and it’s overall calorie count (230). The protein in the bar is a respectable 7g, while contain 4g of fiber. The bar’s package does little to convey the flavor. Overall, this is a great-tasting, nutritious product, but it could use a little more flair on its lapel.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Boomi Bar: Cashew Almond

Boomi Bar Cashew Almond is pretty simple. It contains 7 ingredients: almonds, cashews, honey, dates, crisped rice, puffed amaranth, and salt. You can see the bar through parts of its package which shows nearly whole nuts, and makes it very tempting to eat. Part of a 13 product line, this is one of the brand most recognized flavors. Due to the abundance of nuts, it has 260 calories and 8g of protein. The fiber total is only a disappointing 1g. The packaging is a bit bland and it certainly doesn’t communicate anything in particular about the flavor of the bar. We love natural  simplicity of this bar, but we feel this bar is going to have to step up its packaging if it wants to compete in a very competitive bar space.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Just Great Stuff: Organic Cacao Acai

JustGreatStuff’s Organic Cacao Acai is a bar that really lives up to its name . The most notable aspect of this bar is how much cacao flavor it delivers. Cacao is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted, from which chocolate is made. This bar is rich in cacao nibs which are cracked cacao beans. They have a chocolate flavor and add a nice bit of crunch to the bar. They are set in a base of dates, raw cashews, and tapioca syrup. Also incorporated into this bar is freeze-dried acai with added lime juice and/or citric acid. The acai isn’t high up on the ingredient list, but it’s flavor comes through. Nutritionally, this bar delivers 180 calories, 5g protein and 5g dietary fiber. It’s gluten free and organic. From a packaging standpoint, we think the brand name could relinquish a little of the label space to the rather under-emphasized text allotted to the flavor. Overall, this is one of the most innovative, delicious bars we’ve tried.
4.5 out of 5 stars

Gatorade G Series Pro: 01 Prime Pre-Game Fuel Nutrition Bar: Chocolate Chip

Part of Gatorade’s new “G Series Pro” line, this bar is designed to be “pre-game fuel”, thanks to it being fortified with protein (10g) and carbohydrates (39g).   From a flavor perspective, the bar is quite is enjoyable, having a chocolaty base of rolled oats and crisped rice.  There’s also an occasional chocolate chip for good measure, creating something that has just a touch of indulgence.  Aside from the protein and carbohydrates, the bar actually has a fair amount of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, iron, B vitamins and more.  The bar’s wrapper mostly uses black, white, and grey, but the familiar orange lightning bolt and G logo should help catch the consumer’s eye.  To that extent, we think that this product will have instant credibility in the marketplace.  Otherwise, they’ve presented a pretty technical looking design that goes with the “G Series Pro” name.  Overall, we think that Gatorade has done a nice job of marrying flavor, function, and the power of its brand into a bar offering that definitely has potential.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Power Crunch: French Vanilla Creme

Featuring 14g of protein and only 5g of sugar, the French Vanilla Crème bar from Power Crunch is a very enjoyable and nourishing bar. Inside the wrapper, the 1.4 ounce bar is light and crisp, with a wafer bar style bar that has a creamy layers in the middle. There’s also a light vanilla coating around the bar itself, which adds a nice note to the bar’s finish. Functionally, the bar features a proprietary form of dietary protein, Proto Whey, which the manufacturer claims is designed specifically for the human metabolism. Regardless, the bar’s 14g of protein is sure to have appeal to certain consumers. Packaging is clean, but feels slightly devoid of its own identity, with stock imagery and standard type treatment used for all elements of the design. Further highlighting the “Proto Whey” logo might be a good starting point. Otherwise, figuring out some way to make the package memorable or fun would help this bar a lot. Overall, really enjoyable flavor and function, but needs some work on the packaging.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

GNU Foods: Lemon Ginger Bar

We’ve been fans of Gnu Foods line of fiber enriched bars since we first tried them – and their most recent flavor additions have strengthened our love for the brand. The lemon flavor is strong but natural, while the ginger flavor tastes very fresh and even has a little kick to it. The base of the bar is an enjoyable blend of whole rolled oats, organic whole wheat, wheat bran, organic kamut, psyllium, flax and millet.  It’s sweet, but not too sweet, with a soft consistency that has just a little bit of chew to it. And yes, it is very fibrous (8g of soluble fiber and 4g of insoluble fiber), thanks to these ingredients containing naturally high levels of fiber.  Having high levels of fiber is definitely a very marketable “function” for the bar to have, but it also contains 3g of protein, calcium, and iron.  Packaging is colorful and appealing, with a healthy vibe coming from the soft and not too serious branding.   It’s clean and catches the eye, which certainly help make the product have visual appeal.   Overall, this is a very enjoyable bar that has function that you can feel.  Definitely worth a try.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pure Organic: Chocolate Brownie

Like the other varieties of Pure Organic bars, this one has undergone a branding makeover, with a more friendly and wholesome looking design to its wrapper.   The result is a bar that’s very inviting looking, with two sentences on the front of the wrapper speaking directly at you and giving the bar a not so serious vibe.   Inside, you’ve got a product that’s gluten free, vegan, and raw, starting with the dates, agave, nuts and cocoa.  It’s a pretty simple product, having only eight ingredients but still managing to deliver big flavor and solid nutrition.  In terms of taste, it lives up to being worthy of the chocolate brownie name, with a soft base that’s filled with big notes of cocoa.  You can’t taste too much of the date flavor, which is a good thing, while some pieces of nuts give the bar a bit of crunch to the finish.  Nutritionally, the bar has 180 calories, 7g of fat, 7g of protein, 4g of fiber, 220mg of potassium, and a fair mixture of vitamins.    All in all, this is an extremely enjoyable and satisfying product.

Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars

Betty Lou’s Nut Butter Balls: Peanut Butter

Betty Lou’s Nut Butter Balls are some of the more interesting bars that we’ve come across, starting with the product’s shape, which is more of a “clump” than a “ball.”  Inside the wrapper, there’s loads of peanut butter flavor (it is the second ingredient after all), which, when combined with the other ingredients, makes for an extremely chewy bar.  Added protein crisps give the bar some crunch and variety of texture.    Overall, it’s quite enjoyable to eat.  Nutritionally, the bar has 190 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of fiber, 15g of protein, vitamins, and electrolytes.    On the wrapper, they promote a gluten free formulation with electrolytes.  Not mentioning the product’s protein content seems like a missed opportunity.  Also, there’s the design of the wrapper, which looks more like a snack food than a functional product.  We’d say the same for the name Betty Lou’s and its associated wrapper design.   Updating the design and messaging to something that looks functional and like a sports product would likely improve the marketability of the product.   Nit picking aside, Betty Lou’s Peanut Butter ball is a very unique and enjoyable bar.

Betty Lou’s Nut Butter Balls are some of the more interesting bars that we’ve come across, starting with the product’s shape, which is more of a “clump” than a “ball.”  Inside the wrapper, there’s loads of peanut butter flavor (it is the second ingredient after all), which, when combined with the other ingredients, makes for an extremely chewy bar.  Added protein crisps give the bar some crunch and variety of texture.    Overall, it’s quite enjoyable to eat.  Nutritionally, the bar has 190 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of fiber, 15g of protein, vitamins, and electrolytes.    On the wrapper, they promote a gluten free formulation with electrolytes.  Not mentioning the product’s protein content seems like a missed opportunity.  Also, there’s the design of the wrapper, which looks more like a snack food than a functional product.  We’d say the same for the name Betty Lou’s and its associated wrapper design.   Updating the design and messaging to something that looks functional and like a sports product would likely improve the marketability of the product.   Nit picking aside, Betty Lou’s Peanut Butter ball is a very unique and enjoyable bar.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Nana’s Cookie Bar: Fudgy Wudgy

All natural and vegan, the Fudgy Wudgy variety of Nana’s Cookie Bar is a visually unappealing bar that’s basically a snack bar.   If you’ve ever had any mainstream snack product (e.g. a Devil Dog or Ho Ho), the flavor of this bar will be pretty familiar.  It’s chocolaty and rather sweet, with a flour base that’s exactly what you’d expect from a processed snack product.  However, it’s fortified with a blend of 12 vitamins and minerals so, at least in theory, there’s some nutritional benefit to the bar. Visually, the bar is, as stated earlier, unappealing, with a dark brown color and a pressed flat shape.  The clear label is a bit too much for us – especially since the bar itself isn’t very pretty to look at.    Overall, this product needs a lot of work.

Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Full Bar: Cinnamon Roll

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

Olympic Granola: Honey Almond

Olympic Granola’s Honey Almond Trail bar is an authentic tasting bar that delivers big taste, starting with a delicious base of oats and seeds. From there, you’ve got a touch of almonds, honey, coconut, and salt, which give the bar its amazing depth of flavor.  From that point of view, the bar’s “honest ingredients” yield great results and, since there are no emulsions in the bar, you can see exactly what you are eating.  What else can you ask for from a granola bar?  Branding and packaging look wholesome and high end, with a clear plastic wrapper that lets you see the square shaped bar before you buy it.  The design is clean and has an outdoorsy vibe to it, which fits with the theme of being a “trail” bar.  However, one thing that we’re not fans of is the way they do the nutrition panel, which labels this 3 ounce bar as having 2 servings.  Seeing as the label is not resealable and that common convention is that bars are single serve, we strongly dislike that approach.   Clearly, it’s an effort to list the calories and fat lower than they really are (380 calories and 18g of fat per bar).  Overall, we’re big fans of this bar – but labeling it as a single serving is a necessary change.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Optimum Nutrition: Peanut Butter (Diet)

This bar delivers a significant protein load with a decent flavor and minimal calories and carbohydrates. The packaging, while a shade bland, invites the eye with its image of peanuts with peanut butter and clarifies the product’s claims with minimal text. The brand name encapsulates its proposition (optimal protein) and the call-outs under it – 180 calories, 20 g of protein and 1g of net carbs – back up its claim. Texture-wise, this bar is uniform and pasty, but its strong peanut butter flavor mostly covers the underlying notes of soy and whey proteins. Its nutrition panel doesn’t offer much for vitamins – 6 percent of your daily need of iron and calcium – but, unlike other protein bars, Optimal Protein Diet doesn’t claim to be anything other than a low-cal, low-carb protein delivery vehicle. Overall, Optimal Protein Diet is a solid choice if you’re trying to add protein to your diet while limiting calories.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Octain: Brain Bar

Hailing from Germany, Octain Brain Bar is a “coated cereal bar” that’s enhanced with ingredients to “boost your brain.”  It features a crisped rice center that will be familiar if you’ve ever had a Rice Krispy treat.  It’s sweet and chewy with a light amount of crunch, while the milk based coating gives the bar a touch of indulgence to the finish.   Functionally, the bar has caffeine, ginkgo, kola nut, Nutriose (soluble fiber), and lecithin.   They haven’t done a great job of connecting the “brain boost” claim to what’s actually in the bar, which is certainly something that could be improved upon.  Then there’s the packaging, which comes in a double wrapped format.  The inner layer is your standard foil wrapper, which has a funky looking black colored design.  The outer wrapper is a cardboard box, which is something that seems more appropriate for loose pieces of candy than a bar like this.  In any event, two wrappers seems wasteful and unnecessary – they should simply pick one and skip the other.   Overall, Octain Brain Bar tastes nice, but the functional claims and the packaging could be refined.
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Pure Organic: Apple Cinnamon

If you like apple flavored bars, then Pure Organic’s Apple Cinnamon Bar is one that you’re likely to absolutely love. It uses a base of dates and dried apples, which has been further enhanced with cinnamon. In addition, the bar has loads of nut pieces, including walnuts, cashews, and almonds. This gives the bar some variety of texture, with the very soft base being complemented nicely by the crunch of the nuts. Plus, it has depth of flavor, with some savory to complement the sweet. Nutritionally, this gluten free bar has 190 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of fiber, 5g of protein, omega-3s, and a variety of different vitamins and minerals. Packaging is clean and has a healthy and modern feel to it. Their approach of putting a paragraph of text on the front wrapper isn’t normally something that we’d go for, but they’ve executed it nicely and it works. With their design and arrangement of the label, it’s easy to figure out what this bar is and what it’s benefits are quickly. Plus, it whets the appetite, which is always a plus. Overall, a very well executed bar.
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Soy Joy: Berry

This is definitely one of the better tasting SoyJoy bars that we’ve reviewed. It has an almost home baked flavor to it, that’s probably best compared to cinnamon raisin bread or something similar. However, instead of raisins, it has dried wolfberries (aka goji) as well as what tastes like a slightly spiced mixture. The consistency of this bar is soft and slightly chewy, with a rather thin shape that’s best compare to a piece of a Twix candy bar. At 130 calories, it’s easy to chow this bar down in a flash, which left us reaching for a second one quickly. The bar has 4g of protein, 3g of fiber, and trace amounts of various vitamins. We’re left feeling like this is a good choice for a quick snack, but it’s not likely to provide sufficient sustenance to tide you over for too long. Packaging is polished and clean, with a shiny silver wrapper that has images of berries and of the bar itself. It’s definitely one of the more professional looking bars out there. Overall, extremely enjoyable, but a bit too light for our liking.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Zing Nutrition Bar: Chocolate Peanut Butter

Zing’s Chocolate Peanut Butter bar is, according to the front of the wrapper, a “deliciously different” bar that’s high protein and gluten free. What’s inside the wrapper is a very chewy, chocolate coated bar that’s big on peanut butter flavor. It’s sweetened with agave (a low GI sweetner) and xylitol (a natural sugar substitute). It’s got some decent crunch to it, thanks to the addition of whey protein crisps, but otherwise, it’s a soft and chewy center. Flavor is quite good, although there is a slight note of something that tastes like coffee (which isn’t an ingredient in the bar) towards the finish. Still, for a 210 calorie bar that’s packed with 13g of protein, 3g of fiber, and what’s otherwise enjoyable flavor, it’s not that big of a deal. Packaging for this 1.76 ounce bar is fairly basic looking, with script fonts used for the logo and some of the other text that’s on the front of the wrapper. It’s not the most engaging design, but it’s effective for now. In the future, adding some personality to the look and making the “Deliciously Different” easier to read would be an improvement. Overall, we really enjoyed the flavor and nutritional side of this bar.
Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Forze GPS: Chocolate Decadence

Forze GPS Chocolate Decadence promises to help the consumer curb his appetite through a scientifically-formulated combination of fats, protein, nutrients and fiber. While that efficacy may be difficult to pin down, the bar still satisfies on taste, appearance, texture and nutrition. The bar’s top layer of chocolate chips and chocolate drizzle give it the appearance of an indulgent treat. Its taste resembles that of a brownie, though muted, with undertones of protein powder. Its texture pleasantly mixes chewy and crunchy, though it is perhaps a little scratchy on the throat. Nutritionally, the bar offers 8 g of protein, 5g of fiber and 10 g of sugar in 150 calories – a notable mix considering it makes no high-protein, high-fiber or low-sugar claims. Its vitamin suite is a little scant – just 10 percent of your daily need for vitamins A, C, and E as well as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid- though it also packs 40 percent of one’s daily need for calcium and 6 percent of one’s daily need for iron. Overall, Forze GPS Chocolate Decadence achieves a lot within its 40 grams and 150 calories.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

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