Owner Review:  Luna Bars

 

Tester:  Rosaleen Sullivan

Age:  55 years

Gender: Female

Height:  5’ 9’’ / 1.75 m

Weight:  180 lb / 82 kg

E-mail:  rosaleen43 (at) msn (dot) com

Home:  Eastern Massachusetts, USA

Date:  September 19, 2005

Distributor:  Clif Bars

URL:  http://lunabar.com

Stated Weight: 1.69 oz / 48 g

Year of Manufacture:  2005

MSRP:  $18.75 US/box of 15, single flavor

Product Description:

Luna Bars are crispy, somewhat crunchy, sweet food bars that come in assorted flavors.  Each flavor that I’ve tried has its own distinctive taste.  All share some key ingredients; soy, rice flour, oats, nuts, and brown rice syrup, to name some.  The bars are also vitamin and mineral fortified, providing 100% of the USDA recommended daily allowances of Vitamins C, E, and B complex, 35% of the Calcium, and 20 to 30% of other recommended vitamins and minerals.  Not intended as a full meal replacement, Luna Bars provide about 10 grams of protein and about 180 calories per bar.  There are three new flavors being released:  Peanut Butter Cookie, Iced Oatmeal Raisin, and Cookies and Cream Delight, bringing their flavor variety count to 15.

Comments:

I'm really impressed with the forward thinking of the Clif Bar people in creating a separate product line designed specifically to meet women's needs and tastes.  All this “good for you stuff” and the bars actually taste good!  Many of the flavors have whimsical names, such as “Key Lime Pie,” or “Nutz over Chocolate.”  The Key Lime does have a lime taste and tang, but, alas, does not quite rival a real Key Lime pie.  (Key Lime Pie, the official dessert of Key West, Florida, USA, is made with genuine Key limes, condensed milk, and egg yolks.)  Nutz over Chocolate should be a hit with chocolate lovers.  All the bars that I’ve tried, so far, have a texture that seems a cross between granola bars and “Rice Krispies Treats,” without being as overpoweringly sweet.  (For those who are not familiar with the near staple for many American children, basic Rice Krispies bars are a confection of crispy rice cereal, bound with melted marshmallows and butter.  They can be crumbled apart and stuck back together when very fresh, and are very sweet.) 

I have eaten Luna Bars as parts of breakfast, lunch, supper, or even dessert.  If I’m using the bars as a meal, it is one of several small meals, rather than one of “three squares” I might subscribe to at home.  I seem to hike better with several small snack/meals than with eating larger breakfasts and lunches.  A premeasured and prewrapped bar is a great convenience.  I can eat from the wrapper, so I don’t have to be greatly concerned about sanitizing my hands. I really don’t even have to stop, if the bar is tucked into a convenient pocket.  This can be really helpful if one is hiking in pouring rain or among swarming mosquitoes.  The wrappers are pretty secure.  I have never had a wrapper fail, even if some bars have been carried on multiple trips as “extras.”  Compressing the bars in my pack doesn’t seem to hurt them, and, if not eaten right away, they can “keep” for months. 

Rosaleen Sullivan

Reviewer Information:

I’ve been backpacking off and on for about 20 years.  I’m still in the process of “lightening up.”  Normal gear includes a hammock, down bag and jacket, hiking poles, and an alcohol or fuel tablet stove, retooling gear for each trip. I also make some gear, and often nudge myself out of a design daydream on the trail.  Most trips last 3 days, but I have backpacked 10 days straight.  While most of my journeys are within New England, I’ve hiked the length of the Smokeys National Park, the Grand Canyon, and other trails far from home.