In the 1960s, energy bars were created for astronauts to eat in outer space. Then they fueled the jogging craze of the 70s. Even today they’re a fitness favorite, in large part because they’re portable, convenient and help squash hunger.
And while they’re certainly marketed as being healthy, is that actually the case?
Consumer Reports’ food experts sampled 33 bars - 21 chocolate nut and 12 berry nut types - looking at flavour, ingredients and nutritional quality.
Their most important finding: Many of these bars don’t live up to the healthy marketing seen on the packaging.
For example, will eating the “This Bar Saves Lives” energy bar save your life? The name actually refers to food aid donations. And the RxBar sounds like a prescription for health but there’s nothing medicinal about it.
“The best way to choose a bar is to look for more real ingredients, like nuts, fruits, and grains rather than processed ingredients,” said Ellen Klosz, Consumer Reports health expert.
Here are Consumer Reports' top picks for nutrition and taste:
Berry category
- Pure Organic Wild Blueberry Fruit & Nut Bar. It contains whole blueberries and nuts, is sweet and tangy, and tastes of dates.
- Larabar’s blueberry bar. It’s soft and dense and also has cashew pieces throughout, with a slightly sour and sweet flavor.
Chocolate category
- Pure Organic Chocolate and Peanut Butter bar. It has a lot of peanuts and big chocolate flavour.
- Larabar Nut & Seed Crunchy bar. It’s crunchy with finely chopped almonds and dark chocolate, with a slight coconut flavour.
And don’t forget about sugars. Try to choose a bar made only with fruit. But if it has added sugars - with names like agave or tapioca syrup - make sure they’re toward the end of the ingredient list.
