False Fuel Gatorade Bar

Let's talk about energy and a product that you might turn to if you wanted a good boost during your day, particularly if you are engaged in a lot of physical activities. When I think Gatorade I think sports, I think intense workouts. Why? Because since 1969 multiple sports organizations have used Gatorade for their athletes and the company has used that fact to promote their products. (1) In 1983, Quaker Oats purchased the brand and started introducing it to the rest of the world, showing up over and over in advertisements how it helped not just professional and college athletes but individual competitors, too. That ad campaign has continued and expanded under the control of PepsiCo since 2001. (2)  The Gatorade products now go well beyond beverages. Two lines of non-drink products are "Protein" and "Fuel." (3) Today's featured review is from the "Fuel" line in this Chocolate Chip Energy Bar. I received this bar for free through my Kroger Loyalty card and neither Kroger nor Gatorade asked me to do this review; I'm doing this for you, Sisters and Brothers in Chocolate!

The first worry I had about this chocolate chip fuel bar is that "artificially flavored" is printed right on the front cover under the "chocolate chip" label. However, while there are certainly several ingredients I dislike on the label this is made with chocolate liquor and cocoa butter, too, so it counts as a product we can legitimately consider on The Chocolate Cult. Looking at it is disappointing because there is a lack of chocolate chips. The photo on the wrapper tries to highlight them but in reality as you can see in our photo there just are not that many. The vanilla yogurt while listed after the semi-sweet chocolate chips is the dominant flavor and scent for the bar. The bar itself is dry and it breaks apart as soon as I take a bite. It is sweet! Not surprising when the "Fuel" in this bar is sugar, 19 grams of it plus 3 sugar alcohols and only 5 grams of protein. Yes, sugar is energy but I feel like a bar that is supposed to help you recover from intense physical activity needs more complex carbs and more protein. Plus, come on, you just sweated like crazy why would you want a dry crumbling thing to hold in your hands? I could get as much sugar and more protein with peanut butter covered apple slices.

I dislike the flavor, the texture, and the nutritional values so much, that after one bite I throw it away. If for some reason you do like these bars, I want to see a comment from you saying so because I don't grok why anyone would choose this bar over several other energy bar options on the market today.

Resources Use to Write this Feature:

(1) Gatorade Heritage and History
(2) Wikipedia Gatorade Page
(3) Gatorade Sports Fuel