Friday, September 26, 2008

Clif Bar Chocolate Almond Fudge

Clif Bar Chocolate Almond Fudge ($1.50, harris teeter)
2.4 oz / 68g

Ingredients: organic brown rice syrup, soy rice crisps, organic roasted soybeans, organic soy flour, organic evaporated cane juice, dry roasted almonds, chocolate chips, organic fig paste, cocoa, apple fiber, organic oat fiber, organic milled flaxseed, inulin, psyllium, sea salt, natural flavors.

Calories: 250
Cals from fat: 45
Total Fat: 5g (8%)
Sat Fat: 1.5g (8%)
Sodium: 140mg (6%)
Potassium: 300mg (9%)
Total Carb: 44g (15%)
Fiber: 5g (20%)
Sugar: 20g
Protein: 10g (20%)

Same basic clif bar texture, but a slightly darker bar than most. slight chemical taste. not really as good or as chocolatey as the chocolate chip (still the king of clif if you ask me). a bit dry. this actually sort of recalls some of those compressed date bars - must be the cocoa or something. overall its not a bad bar, but i'd rather eat a chocolate chip clif than this one.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

hershey's sweet & salty granola bar with pretzels

hershey's sweet & salty granola bar with pretzels ($2.99 for 6, harris teeter)
1.2 oz / 34 g

Ingredients: hagh maltose corn syrup, enriched wheat flour, peanuts, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, vegetable oil, crisp rice, high fructose corn syrup, glycerin, sunflower oil, honey, salt, nonfat milk, whey, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, corn syrup, milk fat, soy lecithin, yeast, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, vanillin, artificial flavor.

Calories: 140
Cals from Fat: 45
Total Fat: 5g (8%)
Sat. Fat: 1.5g (8%)
Sodium: 240mg (10%)
Total Carb: 22g (7%)
Fiber: 1g (4%)
Sugar: 8g
Protein: 3g

This is another granola bar surfing in chocolate. this seems like a pretty standard "processed foods" ingredients list, and my hope is that the hershey magic makes this taste candybar-ish. And actually, this is quite a good bar - the texture is really nice, chewy granola in a slightly thinner bar than many, making it chewy but not dense. there's some chewy stuff in the granola that gives it a candy bar feel. the pretzels and peanuts are nice and salty, and the chocolate coating doesn't have the usual chemical taste - it doesn't taste completely natural, but its not overwhelming. not bad at all.

kelloggs crunchy nut sweet & salty chocolatey almond

kelloggs crunchy nut sweet & salty chocolatey almond ($2.99 for 6, harris teeter)
1.12 oz / 32g

Ingredients: dry roasted almonds, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, rice, vegetable oil, peanuts, fructose, corn syrup solids, toasted coconut, dextrose, cocoa, salt, nonfat miulk, whey, calcium carbonate, glycerin, malt flavoring, soy lecithin, sorbitan monostearate, polysorbate 60, natural and artificial flavor, high fructose corn syrup, disodium phosphate, acetylated monoglycerides, carrageenan, whole wheat flour, niacinamide, vitamin a palmitate, xanthan gum, bht, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, thiamin hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid.

Calories: 150
Cals from Fat: 70
Total Fat: 8g (12%)
Sat. Fat: 3g (15%)
Sodium: 160mg (7%)
Total Carb: 18g (6%)
Fiber: 2g (7%)
Sugar: 10g
Protein: 3g

I have to admit, the ingredients list on this bar scares me. Still, I have 6 of them to get through and if the nutrition facts are any indication this thing will taste like a candy bar. Its a traditional granola bar that's been surfing in chocolate - just the bottom half is coated. It smells just like a candy bar, but sadly as I bite into it I taste that old familiar chemical/vitamin taste. Nice granola texture, slightly soft and chewy without feeling stale, but the aftertaste is pure vitamins, like I licked a big B tablet from GNC.