Quaker - Simple Harvest Chewy Granola Bars Review

To begin, let me state that I am an oatmeal freak. I love the stuff and constantly find ways to incorporate it into foods that might not necessarily need that extra oatiness that I so crave. Naturally, whenever there is granola to be had, I take full advantage. The same can be said for granola bars.

 I recently acquired a tasty little oat-based morsel in Quaker's new Simple Harvest line. The flavor of choice was "cinnamon brown sugar with apples and cranberries." Tastewise, this is my thing. Those are all some of my favorite flavors. Nutritionally, I really don't have many complaints. One little bar touts a 140-calorite label (25 from fat), 3g of fat (0g sat), 90mg sodium, 28g carb, 2g fiber, 10g sugar, and 2g protein. Compared to other granola bars, this seems pretty average.

On a slightly confusing note, though, the label misrepresents the amount of fiber TWICE. It says, in a written description, that there are 3g of fiber in each serving (not true--2g) and that that provides 10% of the daily value for fiber (listed as 40g). Guys, we are smarter than this. They label the thing with a 2g of fiber listing, tell us there are 3g, and then try to trick our clever mathematical minds that 2 or 3g can possibly equal 10% of 40 (which would be 4, so you would need to eat 2 of these to get 10% of the daily fiber needs).

 That's not too big of an issue, though. It just shows how dumb some marketers are, or how dumb they think we are. The ingredients are natural and include oat, wheat, and barley. I'm all for the inclusion of barley, which is an underused product in the American food market. With so many high-fiber products, though, there should be no need to add an extra fiber source, right? Wrong. One of the ingredients is inulin, derived from the chicory root, which is a common fibrous additive.That's a little bit of a downer to me, but isn't really a deterrent.

The taste and texture are good, as I mention, and beyond the issues of mis-labelling and adding fiber from another source when they've already included three very fibrous products, I'm all for this little bar of deliciousness.

With so little protein and fiber though, don't expect to get much of an energy boost or to feel sated for long. If you need a little bit of a snack or are maybe having a piece of fruit alongside this little guy, you should be good for awhile. On its own, though, you're better off just waiting until the next meal. Will I buy these? Well, with my $1 off coupon and constant need to find decent roadtrip snacks, definitely.