Cascadian Farm Harvest Berry Bar

By: Tanya Taylor, PhD | Jun 4, 2008

The nutrition/ snack bar aisle in the supermarket can seem overwhelming at times. There seems to be an endless list of choices - do you want something chewy, crunchy, fruity, soft, organic, cheap, or chocolatey?! Luckily, we have written a lot of snack bar reviews to help you out. Cascadian Farms Harvest Berry Bars have been around for a while, but recently, they made it into my cart for the first time.

After taking off the shiny white wrapper, a glossy sheen and a sticky coating covering the mixture of visible oats, rice puffs and mixed berries stands before you. Each bite is chewy and slightly crispy. Furthermore, there is a multitude of various berries spread throughout that offer a burst of sweetness. It actually tastes more like a gooey oatmeal raisin cookie than any bar I have ever had.

Each 35 gram Cascadian Farms Harvest Berry Bar contains 130 calories, 2 grams of fat (3% of the RDA), no saturated fat (the binder is more sugar than fat), 115 mg of sodium (5% of the RDA), 1 gram of fiber (4% of the RDA), 13 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein. The wholesome USDA organic label does not lie, but it could be perceived as deceiving. While all of the ingredients are organic, it does not necessarily mean that they are the best for you. The first ingredient is tapioca syrup followed by rolled oats, crisp rice, raisins and ... naturally milled sugar, brown rice syrup (more sugar) and a couple other organic additions. Yes, all of the ingredients are understandable and organic, but there are a number of different terms on the label that simply mean sugar.

The cost for a box with 6 bars was $2.69. This is a reasonable price however, the overly sticky bar does not make for a very good on the run snack (which is what most bars are used for). While I would recommend that you give them a chance when you are in the mood for a sweet, gooey concoction, I think the following 'natural' bars may fit better into your healthy, on-the-go diet: Quaker Simple Harvest Honey Roasted Nut Granola Bar (7 grams of sugar and fat/ 1 gram saturated and), Back to Nature Banana Walnut Bakery Squares (9 grams of sugar and 5 grams of fat/ 0.5 grams saturated) and Kashi TLC Cherry Dark Chocolate Chewy Granola Bar (4 grams of fiber and 8 grams of sugar).

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