I recently received a “VoxBox” full of products from a nifty little web site called Influenster. A VoxBox is a selection of (full-sized!) complimentary products for members to test and review. In this case, I received a “Natural Products” VoxBox, which meant that the products I received were “made with natural ingredients,” although not all of the products were “necessarily 100% natural and/or organic.”
I thought I’d start with the snack foods I received, since I wasted no time sampling them. Here’s what I got:
HALO snack bar from ProBar
This bar bills itself as “delicious organic unprocessed food,” but it has more than 20 ingredients, including chocolate chips, potato starch, oat flour, whole wheat flour, and the ever-dubious “natural flavors.” Perhaps we need to review the definition of “processed,” shall we?
From The Free Dictionary:
Processed: To prepare, treat, or convert by subjecting to a special process.
Guess what, folks? Flour is processed. Potato starch is processed. And don’t insult my intelligence by telling me that organic marshmallow is “sinfully healthy,” as these bars claim. It’s not.
As bars go, this had a decent taste and texture. If you’re looking for a vegan treat made with organic ingredients, this does the trick. But a cookie is a cookie. Don’t buy into the exaggerated health claims. Just don’t.
If you want a snack bar that’s genuinely wholesome and unprocessed, buy yourself a Larabar. These little beauties typically contain 4-5 ingredients, and it’s all stuff you can identify. For example, the peanut butter and jelly flavor contains dates, peanuts, unsweetened cherries, and salt. That’s it.
Remember, the more ingredients a product has, the less healthy it is. End of story.
Multigrain Chips from Food Should Taste Good
I’ve actually purchased these before. I like the crunch of a good chip every once in a while, and these are made with quinoa, soy, and brown rice, plus flax, sunflower, and sesame seeds. Good stuff, except maybe the soy. They contain no gluten, trans fat, MSG, or GMOs, so thumbs up for that. And they have a great flavor. I ate them plain, but they’d be good with salsa or hummus.
If you have to have chips, I have no qualms about recommending these. There are tons of different flavors, and not all contain soy. But they’re still processed food. Don’t think that because they’re a better chip option, you can sit down and eat a whole bag of them and you’re being “healthy.” You’re not.
If you really want a healthy snack, the best thing to do is grab a piece of fruit. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that anything that comes in a bag and has a shelf life of five years or more is going to do your body good.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”