Are Granola Bars Sweet?

July 26, 2010 ↓ Comments (0)

Question

(from Twitter) Do you consider a chocolate chip granola bar to be sweet? Or any granola/power bar for that matter?

Answer:

Yes, I consider them sweet. Most individually wrapped and boxed granola bars are sugar-laden. They may or may not contain High Fructose Corn Syrup by they almost always have added sugars. I don’t eat any of the energy bars that you will find at most bicycle shops as they are basically candy bars—just with more nuts than a Snickers bar.

Here are the ingredients from Quaker chocolate chip granola bars:

Ingredients: Granola (Quaker Rolled Oats, Rolled Whole Wheat, Brown Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Fructose-Glucose, Dried Unsweetened Coconut, Honey, Sodium Bicarbonate, Natural Flavor, Modified Milk Ingredients), Glucose, Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Vanillin), Crisp Rice (Rice Flour, Sugar, Malt Extract, Salt), Glycerin, Sunflower Oil, Sugar, Sorbitol, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Molasses, Soy Lecithin, BHA (Preservative), Citric Acid, Sulphites.

CONTAINS: COCONUT, WHEAT, MILK, SOY, and SULPHITE ingredients.

That said, I will personally eat Larabars from time-to-time and also sometimes eat a form of “energy bar” (as they call it) that’s sold in the bulk food aisle at Fred Meyer supermarkets. These are some of my borderline replacement foods that I turn to when things get really stressful and I am “dying” for sweet junk food.

Make Your Own

Ultimately, it all depends on you. Some people can limit their sweets to higher quality, home made or hand made health food snacks and be very happy with that. Have a look at this recipe and make your own granola bars with alternative forms of sweeteners. There’s nothing like knowing you’re eating something you made. That way you know what’s inside it and what you’re putting inside of you!

PS - Look at this page on SugarStacks.com for a visual about how much sugar is in a Power Bar and a Cliff Bar.