Granola Bars

When looking for a quick snack for hungry students, many schools serve granola bars as a healthy option. But just how healthy are these bars? The reality is, most of these healthy sounding bars are highly processed with long ingredient lists that contain unpronounceable items, and are loaded with white flour, unhealthy fats, and sugar. It doesn’t help that food companies work hard to make them appear healthier by highlighting the (often little) fruit or whole grains they contain. Here are five tips to choose a healthier granola bar: 

1. Aim High for Fibre - Look for more than 2 grams of fibre per bar (see next tip).
2. Caution: Inulin – Look through the ingredient list for “inulin” or “chicory root” or “oat hull fibre”. While these fibre sources are used in many processed grain products to improve the fibre content on Nutrition Facts tables, there’s no proof they have the same health benefits as naturally occurring fibre. Bottom line: if inulin is on the ingredient list, you can’t trust the fibre content.
3. Aim for Whole Grains – Read the first few ingredients to look for “whole grain oats” or “whole grain wheat”. The terms “wheat flour” or “enriched flour” mean white flour. And “bran” is not a whole grain, but only one of three parts of a whole grain. 
4. Watch the Sugar – Aim for 10 grams or less on the Nutrition Facts table. On the ingredient list, anything ending in “ose” is a sugar.
5. Be Weight-Wise – Even healthier granola bars can be a very energy- dense choice, high in calories. For those who are trying to achieve or maintain a healthy weight, granola bars should be eaten sparingly.

One word of caution…if you take this list with you to the store, you may be disappointed. There was not one granola bar that met all five criteria in one Yellowknife store. Truth is, nutritionally speaking, you’re better off choosing a slice of whole grain toast or fruit for a snack.

However, considering that hunger is a priority over nutrition, and the reality of many pressing demands on educators, northern schools may still choose to serve granola bars. This begs the question: “What’s a better option?”  The brands below may or may not be available in your community, but they can be ordered in through your community store, Food Mail (now called Nutrition North) or barge orders: 

• Oatmeal 2 Go by Quaker
• All Bran Bars 
• President’s Choice Blue Menu Fruit and Nut bars
• Kashi bars