Review of 'Nature Valley' Crunchy Granola Bar (Oats 'n Honey)

Nature Valley -- Crunchy Granola Bar (Oats 'n Honey)
Overall Rating: 3/5
Summary: these were great-tasting bars, comparable to the generally more expensive Kashi bars. Mind you, this is only in taste, not nutrition. On the nutrition scale, the Kashi bars are significantly more nutritious. Nature Valley bars have more fat, more calories, and fewer grams of fiber and protein. For these reasons, I wouldn't recommend these bars.

Where to buy: Wal-Mart, Freshco



Ingredients: whole grain rolled oats, sugar and/or golden sugar, high monounsaturated canola oil, golden syrup, honey, salt, soy lecithin, yellow corn flour, soy flour, baking soda, natural flavour.

This product is not vegan because of the inclusion of honey.

Nutrition Facts:
Serving size: 2 bars
Calories 220
Fat: 9g
     Saturated: 1g
     Trans: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 135mg
Carb: 31g
     Fibre: 3g
     Sugars: 12g
Protein: 4g
Calcium: 2%
Iron: 8%

Unlike the Kashi Crunchy Granola Bars (reviewed here), this bar has sugar added, so I would definitely prefer to buy the Kashi bars. These Nature Valley bars also have 50 more calories than the Kashi bars -- a very significant amount!  The Nature Valley bars also have more fat, more carbs, and less fiber and protein. These are very good reasons to opt for the Kashi bar.

These are very similar to the Kashi Crunchy Bars in taste. They are fresh and crunchy, gently sweet (not sugary), and had great textures (loved the bits of nuts). Unfortunately, the poorer nutrition simply can't match the Kashi brand.

Other 'Crunchy Bars' flavours:

• Peanut Butter (vegan)
• Roasted Almond (vegan)
• Cinnamon (vegan)
• Apple Crisp (vegan)
• Maple Brown Sugar (vegan)
• Pecan Crunch (vegan)
• Oats 'n Dark Chocolate (vegan)
• Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter (vegan)

Brand:

• I couldn't find much information about the brand and its ingredients on the official website (that really peeves me...)
• I did find a lawsuit filed against the brand for not being as Natural as it claims to be "Natural" Nature Valley Products Have Unnatural Ingredients, Says Lawsuit"
• Involved in the Preserve the Parks Project