LÄRABAR

Initial Review
December 12, 2005

Tester Information

Name: Raymond Estrella
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 3" (187.5 cm)
Weight: 210 lbs (95 kg)
Email address: rayestrella@hotmail.com
City: Huntington Beach
State: California
Country: USA 
Backpacking Background: I have been hiking for over 30 years, all over the state of California. I have also hiked in Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho. I hike year-round, mostly in the Sierra Nevada, and have put 535 miles (856 km) on my boots this year.  As I start my 4th decade of backpacking I am making the move to lightweight gear, and smaller packs.

The product

Manufacturer: Humm Foods Inc.
Web site: http://www.larabar.com
Product: Larabar
Year manufactured: 2005.
MSRP: $27.00 (US) per case direct.
Flavor and weight listed as follows.
Apple Pie 1.6 oz (45 g) Actual 1.9 oz (53 g)
Banana Cookie 1.8 oz (51 g) Actual 1.9 oz (53 g)
Cashew Cookie 1.7 oz (47 g) Actual 1.9 oz (53 g)
Cherry Pie 1.7 oz 47 g) Actual 2.0 oz (56 g)
Chocolate Coconut Chew (51 g) Actual 1.9 oz (53 g)
Cocoa Môlé 1.8 oz (51 g) Actual 1.9 oz (53 g)
Ginger Snap 1.8 oz (51 g) Actual 1.9 oz (53 g)
Pecan Pie 1.6 oz (45 g) Actual 2.0 oz (56 g)

Product description

The following are direct quotes from Humm Food’s website.

LÄRABAR is a delicious blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices — energy in its purest form. Made from 100% whole, raw food, each flavor contains no more than 2 to 6 ingredients. Pure and simple, just as nature intended.
 LÄRABAR is RIGHT. All of the vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, good carbohydrates and healthy fats are derived exclusively from the whole, raw food used to make LÄRABAR.

LÄRABAR is REAL. Sweet with no added sweeteners. Sustaining with no added fillers, supplements or flavorings. LÄRABAR is what your body needs-real, whole food loaded with nature's own minerals and vitamins.

LÄRABAR is RAW. Never cooked. Never processed. The essential enzymes, which are necessary for the digestion and utilization of nutrients, remain completely intact in their most natural, powerful state. A diet abundant in raw, unprocessed foods is important for health and longevity.

For LÄRABAR, Humm Foods sources the best possible ingredients: Uncooked, Unprocessed, No Added Sugars, Non-Irradiated, Non-GMO, Preservative-Free, Sulfite-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Corn-Free, Vegan, Kosher.

Initial Impressions

The weights listed for the bars differed quite a bit, but as you can see the actual weights were within 0.1 oz (3 g) of each other. (I weighed them with an American Weigh model AMW-13, digital scale, accurate to 1 gram.) It does make sense to me to make all of your bars the same weight. But it will certainly change the nutritional information.  The biggest example of this would be the Pecan Pie flavor bar.

Providing 220 calories at a listed weight of 1.6 oz (45 g) it would calculate out at 137 calories per oz. With the actual weight of the bar figured, it will provide 275 calories per bar. A 25% increase above the listed calories. All other nutritional values would increase by that factor also.

As a hiker, to me that is not a bad thing. I am always looking for the most nutrition I can get in a small package. But it could be a concern to someone that has to control the amount of a certain item (fats, sugar, etc.) in their daily diet. But for the record, I like them having more. (I checked the weight of some other bars, and gels that I have in my gear room. They were within 0.05 oz).

Another thing I notice is the amount of calories that come from fat. Almost all are at 50%. The Cocoa Mole had the lowest percentage at 40%. The Pecan Pie and Ginger Snap at a whopping 55%. Again not necessarily a bad thing for hikers, but could be a concern for some. They average 24 grams of carbohydrates each, a very respectable number for the size of these bars.

When I go backpacking I try to get more of my fats in the morning as the constant workout of hiking will burn them throughout the day. I like heavier concentrations of carbohydrates during the walking hours. And want carbohydrates and proteins in the evening, at dinner time.

Test Plan

I received 16 bars to test.  I will take the LÄRABAR on a couple of my hikes coming up. I will plan on eating two of them for breakfast each day. I will see how they do for giving me the fuel to start off the day.

I will plan to eat two more during the day. (I do not really stop for lunch per say, just take 5 minutes and eat a bar and drink some water.) I will see if they have enough carbs to keep me pushing down the trail.

As these will be winter hikes, I will see how they handle freezing and thawing.

And of course I will see if they are tasty enough to have me looking forward to more of them.

I would like to thank Humm Foods and Backpack Gear Test for allowing me to participate in this test.