Nature Valley introduces new snacks

Pack a little heart health into your snack.

Nature Valley Healthy Heart Chewy Granola Bar makers are hoping you will. The company’s new chewy granola bars take advantage of FDA-approved labeling claims. Each bar contains plant sterols, which the Food and Drug Administration says may reduce heart disease risk if your diet is already low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Also, the bars are a good source of whole grains and dietary fiber, according to the labels.

Spokesman-Review reader food panel members tasted the Honey Nut and Oatmeal Raisin bars and gave each of them three-and-a-half stars for flavor. They were less impressed by the price, giving them just two stars for value, a poor rating. The bars cost $3.89 for a box of five.

“Sometimes you feel like a nut. … If this is one of those times, grab these,” Skip Hubbard said of the Honey Nut granola bars.

Marilyn Moore said she liked the bars. “I was too busy enjoying this candy bar/nutrition cereal breakfast … it was gone before I counted all the ingredients.”

Not everyone was impressed. “I’ll pass. So-so for flavor and the texture is mediocre at best,” Larry Inman said.

The Oatmeal Raisin bars were lauded for a surprising ingredient: crisp rice cereal. “Not your average, ordinary granola bar. Not too chewy or dry and plenty of brown sugar flavor. The (crisp rice cereal) is a nice touch for a little bit more texture,” Hubbard said.

Laura Hollman liked the bars but not well enough for daily consumption. “A pleasant, lightly sweet, chewy, oat-y granola bar. On a hike this would be excellent. This granola bar is not fantastic enough for daily munching,” she said.

But Inman said the bars won’t be on his shopping list. “Dry, chewy, flavorless. If the point is taste, … they come up short.”

Nature Valley Healthy Heart Chewy Granola Bars - Honey Nut

Price: $3.89

Taste: • • • ½

Value: • • ½

Nutrition per bar: 160 calories, 4 grams fat (.5 grams saturated, 22 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 28 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 3 grams dietary fiber, 115 milligrams sodium.

Comments: “The almonds add a lot of nice crunch to this slightly sticky bar. Packable for hiking.” – Tina Johnson

“This granola bar, when you first put it in your mouth, tastes like yeast. It’s very strange. Keep chewing and there’s a vaguely oaty taste but not a big improvement.” – Laura Hollman

“I’m not a fan of bird food like this. Edible, nothing more.” – Donald Clegg

Nature Valley Healthy Heart Chewy Granola Bars - Oatmeal Raisin

Taste: • • • ½

Value: • •

Price: 3.89 for 5 (1.4-ounce) bars

Nutrition per bar: 150 calories, 2 grams fat (.5 grams saturated, 13 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 3 grams dietary fiber, 95 milligram sodium.

Comments: “Dry, chewy, flavorless. If the point is taste, … they come up short.” – Larry Inman

“This is the real deal because everything in it is recognizable. Not too flavorful, though. Packable but a little sticky.” – Tina Johnson

“I think – but I’m not sure at all – that they’re going for a maple flavor here. But who cares? It’s a granola bar.” – Donald Clegg