It’s not always easy to figure out what’s food and what’s manufactured calories. Some items have the best names, names that make it seem as if the product is definitely food, and quite nourishing at that. So I didn’t realize that Nutrigrain bars had 52 ingredients until someone pointed it out to me. That’s not food, that’s a chemistry experiment.

The next time I was in the supermarket, I took a look at the ingredient list to confirm the observation. I also observed that eight (eight!) of those ingredients were different names for sugar. My best guess is that if they were required to integrate the ingredients in the CRUST and FILLING instead of listing them separately as they do, then sugar would be the first ingredient and people would be less inclined to think of the product as nourishing. The marketing team developed a great name for this chemistry experiment, but that’s where the attraction ends.

Here is an actual ingredient list for blueberry Nutrigrain bars so you can see for yourself what I’m talking about. The first and only time the word blueberry appears in the ingredient list is at number 41 (of 52). The various kinds of names for sugar are in bold type. 

CRUST: Whole grain rolled oats, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [Vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), whole wheat flour, sunflower and/or soybean oil with TBHQ for freshness, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, honey, dextrose, calcium carbonate, soluble corn fiber, nonfat dry milk, wheat bran, salt, cellulose, potassium bicarbonate (leavening), natural and artificial flavor, mono- and diglycerides, propylene glycol esters of fatty acids, soy lecithin, wheat gluten, niacinamide, sodium sterol lactylate, Vitamin A palmitate, carrageenan, zinc oxide, reduced iron, guar gym, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), thiamine hydrochloride (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid.

FILLING: High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, blueberry puree concentrate, glycerin, sugar, water, sodium alginate, modified corn starch, natural and artificial flavor, citric acid, methylcellulose, calcium phosphate, malic acid, red #40, blue #1.

I am not the only one who’s noticed how nutritionally bankrupt these products are. There are plenty of great “breakfast bar” and “granola bar” recipes on line if you’re so inclined and, if not, then you can buy Lara bars, which have an ingredient list that looks something this: dates, peanuts, cashews.

Here is how you know if it’s food:

#1 You can find all the ingredients for sale in a grocery store;
#2 You can make it, or a close facsimile, by yourself if you want; and
#3 A six-year-old can pronounce all the ingredients.

Lastly, I found a nice recipe for homemade granola bars at Love & Lemons. It’s made with peanut (or cashew) butter, rolled oats, honey, vanilla extract, pumpkin seeds (or peanuts), sea salt, and miniature chocolate chips. That’s all. I’m going to make a batch to take on our family vacation.