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PROBAR
FRUITION BARS
Tester
Information:
Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 52
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight: 170 lb (77 kg)
E-mail
address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western West Virginia, U.S.A.
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Backpacking Background:
I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including backpacking,
day-hiking, car camping, and canoeing. Most of my excursions
are confined to weekends, although I try to fit in at least one
longer backpacking trip each year, and have started section
hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT), accruing a little over 300 mi
(483 km) so far. My style varies with the activity, but since
becoming a lightweight backpacker, I've noticed I tend to pack
somewhat minimally even on trips where I have more space.
Still, I don't like to sacrifice warmth, comfort, or safety.
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Initial Report - October 14, 2009
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Product Information:
Manufacturer: PROBAR,
LLC
Year of manufacture: 2009
Advertised
net weight: 1.7 oz (48 g)
Measured weight in wrapper: 48 g to 54 g (1.69 oz to 1.90
oz)
Measured weight of a wrapper: 2 g (0.07 oz)
Flavors: Peach, Strawberry, Blueberry, Cran-Raspberry
MSRP: $2.49 US per bar/$27.48 US per 12 bar case
Website: www.theprobar.com
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Product
Description:
Fruition is PROBAR's fruit based "snack bar". The bars are
certified organic, and are 100% Vegan. PROBAR touts two servings
of fruit in each bar. Each bar has relatively similar nutrition -
160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of
fiber, 20 milligrams of sodium, and 3 grams of protein. The bars
vary slightly in sugars, with peach and blueberry each having 21 grams
and cran-raspberry and strawberry having 22 grams. They
have from 4-6% of the daily recommended allowance of iron, and from
2-4% of the recommended allowance of calcium. No other
significant amounts of vitamins or minerals are listed.
The primary ingredient of each variety is organic date paste, followed
by rolled oats and brown rice syrup. Each bar also lists cashews,
both white & black chia seeds, natural flavor, ascorbic acid,
citric acid, and Arabic gum. Each flavor also lists the
appropriate type of fruit.
 Preliminary
Impressions:
The fruition bar packaging gives a great first impression before the
bars are even opened. Both cases and bar wrappers are decorated
with appealing prints of fruit, flowers, and green leaves. Eye
candy aside, the important thing about a food bar is taste and
nutrition. With all the fruit, the bars seem nutritious, and
although having a good bit of sugar, the sugar is from natural sources
such as dates and brown rice syrup. Calcium and iron are often
harder to get on the trail than at home, so the inclusion of these
minerals is welcome.
The bars look good too - the separate bits of oats, fruit, and seeds
can be seen. They have a slightly sticky feel and are soft and
easy to break into smaller pieces. I first tried the strawberry
flavor, and thought I was in heaven! The bars have a pleasant
texture to chew, although slightly sticky - sort of similar to a soft
oatmeal cookie or Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie. They are a little on
the sweet side, so they have a candy-bar type appeal in that
aspect. I also tried the peach flavor, which tasted slightly
sweeter to me than the strawberry, however it has a tad less
sugar. Both flavors had a very recognizable fruit flavor, and the
dates were also very discernible.
Although PROBAR calls these "snack bars", they are larger than the
typical 'snack size' candy bar, and the calorie count is similar to or
only slightly less than many other energy bars I have eaten.
PROBAR's other lines of bars are more generous in both size and
calories, so in comparison, I guess "snack bar" is appropriate even
though the fruition bars are fairly generous in size and calories.
Summary:
The PROBAR fruition bar is an appealing source of energy for the trail
- easy to chew, tasty, and about the right calorie count for a burst of
energy while hiking. In addition to the appeal of organic,
natural ingredients, the bars are beautifully packaged.
More to come:
This concludes my Initial Report. Please check back in mid
January for field testing results.
Thanks to PROBAR and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity
to
test the Fruition Bar.
Read more reviews of Probar gear
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant
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