Field Report – ProBar Nutty Banana Boom



Review Date: August 7, 2006

Name: Pat McNeilly
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Height: 5’ 8” (1.7 m)
Weight: 155 lb (70 kg)
Email address: patrick.mcneilly@hhs.gov
City, State, Country: Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Backpacking Background:
I have been hiking for at least 20 years but backpacking for only the last three years.  Most of my backpacking is done as overnight trips and occasional weekend and weeklong trips.  My typical packweight is approximately 18 to 20 lb (8 to 9 kg) before food or water.  Most of my backpacking is the three season variety in the mountains of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.  In addition to backpacking, I also fish, hunt, and have been involved in disaster relief.  As a result, some of my backpacking equipment gets use in a number of different venues.

Product Information:
Product: Nutty Banana Boom
Manufacturer: ProBar
Year of Manufacture: 2006
URL: http://www.theprobar.com/
MSRP: Not listed
Weight: 3 oz (85 g) [as listed];  3.2 oz (91 g) [as measured]
Package Dimensions: 6 in (15 cm) x 3.5 in (9 cm) x 0.75 in (2 cm)
Bar Dimensions: 2.75 in (7 cm) x 2.75 in (7 cm) x 0.75 in (2 cm)

Product Ingredients (as listed on the wrapper):
Natural unsalted peanut butter (peanuts), organic brown rice syrup, organic barley malt syrup, fruit and nut mix (organic raisin, organic sunflower seeds, juice sweetened papaya, juice sweetened pineapple, dates, cashews, unsweetened coconut, pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts), granola mix (oats, grape concentrate, expeller pressed canola oil, almonds, oat bran, natural orange oil, natural vitamin E), granola mix (organic oats, organic evaporated cane juice, organic expeller pressed canola oil, crisp rice (organic brown rice flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic molasses, sea salt), organic flax seeds, organic oat solids, hemp seed), granola (rolled oats, raisins, cornflakes (milled corn, evaporated cane juice, barley malt syrup), rolled rye, organic brown crisp rice (organic brown rice, organic malted barley syrup), almonds, apples, epasote, organic cardamom seed, organic fennel seed, organic fenugreek seed, organic nutmeg), organic sunflower seeds, chopped dates (dates, oat flour), organic banana chips, organic unsweetened coconut, organic flax seeds, raw cashews, organic brown sesame seeds, carob chips, (whole grain malted barley and corn, fractionated palm kernel oil, carob powder, soy lecithin), raw almonds, natural banana flavor.

Field Conditions:  
I brought the Nutty Banana Boom along on a range of trips including a trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and hikes in Acadia and Shenandoah National Parks, and the Norvin Green State Forest of northern New Jersey.  I also took the ProBars along on a week long trip in the George Washington National Forest in central Virginia where I encountered three days of very heavy rain.  The elevation on these trips varied from sea level to 6000 ft (0 m to 1800 m).  The temperatures I encountered on these trips ranged anywhere from 48 F to 93 F (9 C to 34 C).


Product Review:
Since my Initial Report, I am still consuming the ProBar Nutty Banana Boom and still enjoying them.  I thought that after eating the same thing over and over again I would get tired of them.  Not the case at all.  In fact, I have found these to be some of the better tasting bars that I have tried.  I will have to find somewhere to buy the other ProBar flavors to give them a try.  I believe that overall the ProBars deliver what is described on the company’s website. 

Taste and Visual Appeal:
I have found that this product is quite consistent in its taste.  I do not detect much flavor or texture differences between bars.  Only after subjecting the ProBar to cold conditions did there seem to be much variance in their taste.  I subjected the Nutty Banana Boom to some tests to evaluate how the product under a number of different situations.  I took one ProBar and cut it with a knife into four equally sized pieces.  One piece was wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a refrigerator at 39 F (4 C) for four hours.  A second piece was wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer at -4 F (-20 C) for four hours and tasted when frozen.  The third piece was wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer at -4 F (-20 C) for four hours and allowed to completely thaw before tasting.  The last piece was left unwrapped and left at room temperature overnight.

I found that the refrigerated piece was somewhat harder and was less sticky than an unrefrigerated ProBar.   The banana flavor of the bar was more pronounced and the peanut flavor was all but gone.  The frozen piece I tasted could be bitten into and I found to be very chewy as it warmed up in my mouth.  The banana flavor of this piece still came through even though it was frozen however I couldn’t detect any peanut flavor.  The third piece which was allowed to thaw after freezing had a taste and texture like a ProBar that just came out of the wrapper.  Lastly, the piece which was left unwrapped overnight had somewhat less banana flavor but was still moist and retained its texture.  I had expected this last piece to possibly dry out and become hard but this was not the case at all.

Durability and Packaging:
I have kept one Nutty Banana Boom in a pocket of my briefcase along with items like pens, identification badges, and other office materials for the entire test period.  This bar took quite a bit of abuse.  It would travel with me all day and would get thrown about constantly.  Upon examination at the end of the test period, the wrapper was wrinkled but did not tear or puncture.  As I mentioned in my Initial Report, I found that the lot number and expiration date had rubbed off.  The bar inside appeared only somewhat flattened but was still intact.  This ProBar tasted like any other bar I tested.

In another test, I left a Nutty Banana Boom on the dashboard of my truck for the duration of the test.  I wanted to look at how the packaging and the product would hold up to being exposed to heat.  I simply placed the bar in the wrapper on the dashboard and left it there as I went about my usual business.  I did not have an adequate thermometer to measure the actual temperatures.   The packaging did not appear to degrade at all.  However, when I opened the package I noticed that it did open with less effort that other ProBar packages.  There were not other noticeable problems with the wrapper and I did not notice any spoilage of the product inside.  This ProBar tasted no different than other ProBars from the same lot.

I had noted that there is a certain amount of excess air in the product packaging which adds to its bulk.  I generally did not find this to be any problem when packing the ProBar on a trip.  However, I did have one occasion during my week long trip in Virginia where the packaging did appear to burst along the side seam of the wrapper.  This ProBar was packed tightly in one side zippered pocket of my pack.  I am uncertain about exactly what caused the package to burst.  There did not appear to be any problems with the appearance or taste of the bar.

I did perform one test on the ProBar packaging which involved submersing an intact bar in its wrapper into a bowl of water for one minute.  After drying off the outside of the packaging, I opened the wrapper to see if any water was able to get inside.  None was found.  I also did not have any problem with moisture penetrating the wrapper during my weeklong trip in Virginia despite lots of rain and otherwise moist conditions.

Portion size and effects:
The portion size of the Nutty Banana Boom seems to be more than adequate.  There were many times when I would stop during a hike for a snack but would only eat about half a bar.  The rest I would put back in the wrapper for later.  This typically would hold me over until the next stop or meal.  Even after a 3000 ft (900 m) climb in the White Mountains of New Hampshire on a wet and windy day I found that half a ProBar was enough to keep me going until my next meal.

I have eaten the ProBar as my breakfast and would have to say that the company’s claim of the product being a meal substitute is fairly accurate.   When eaten before going to work, I was not hungry for anything before lunch.  On the trail, I found that the ProBar may not have taken me all the way through until lunch but I felt that I could hike farther before stopping for a snack.

I can’t say that I have received any particular health benefits or felt any different after eating the ProBars.  Then again, I can’t say that I had any unusual or untoward effects (e.g., upset stomach, etc.) either. 


Summary:
The ProBar Nutty Banana Boom is a dense moist product with a pleasing banana flavor and a chewy texture which is consistent from bar to bar  The product packaging protects it well from most forms of rough handling and moisture. The ProBar is filling and seems to provide enough energy and certainly provides an ample snack during periods of high activity.  

Things I like:

    1. Good banana flavor
    2. Chewy texture with some crunch
    3. Satisfying

Things I don’t like:

    1. Only mild peanut flavor
    2. Expiration date rubs off easily
    3. Some excess air in the packaging

I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to ProBar and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test this product.