March 07, 1999|By Leah Eskin. Leah Eskin wrote about streamlined design in the Oct. 11 Magazine. Her work also has appeared in People, Saveur and Elle.
Nothing says workaholic like a desk stocked with PowerBars. Originally designed to administer a quick dose of carbs to runners facing "the wall," energy bars now deliver guilt-free candy-bar convenience to just about everyone else. Wrapped in indulgent flavors like chocolate banana split and peanut butter crunch, these "SuperSnickers" offer both junk-food jolt and health-food piety. "People perceive these as meal replacement," says Frank Lampe, editorial director of Natural Business, an industry newsletter. "They're very dense nutritionally." Not to mention plain old dense.
Nutritionists scold that a wholesome meal can hardly be compressed into a shatterproof stick of carob-coated protein powder. "Just because it's marketed as a health bar doesn't make it healthy," says Jon Benninger, publisher of Health Supplement Retailer. "It might have great nutrients, but be high in fat. Or have no fat but enough sodium to kill a pig."
A foil-wrapped snack might get you through the occasional deskbound "lunch," says Joanne Brown, dietitian at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but it doesn't offer the complexity of actual food. "You'll probably do just as well eating a banana and some Fig Newtons."
So what's the point? Convenience, at a clip of about $200 million in store sales last year. According to industry trackers ACNielsen and Spins, sales of energy bars and gels (the new squirtable version) grew 67 percent from 1997 to 1998.
Energy bars pack neatly, don't leak and never demand a microwave reheat. And then there's the promise that their magic mix of vitamins, herbs and soy protein isolate will make you stronger, smarter, calmer and, of course, peppier. Such claims, however subtly suggested, turn ordinary snacks into what
call "functional foods," or, more ominously, "neutraceuticals." Foods, in other words, that act like drugs. Here then, is an abbreviated Periodic Table of the Energy Bar Elements.
call "functional foods," or, more ominously, "neutraceuticals." Foods, in other words, that act like drugs. Here then, is an abbreviated Periodic Table of the Energy Bar Elements.
ENDURANCE BARS
Energy bars fall into two broad categories, "endurance," which tend to carbo-load, and "nutrition," which bulk up on protein. Endurance bars are often blond and are getting more supple all the time.
1ST GENERATION: The Energizer bunny's secret snack
Easy to digest, if hard to enjoy, the original energy bars stress "performance."
PowerBar
The mother of all energy bars, PowerBar's "performance energy bar" was developed by
California at Berkeley distance-running coach Brian Maxwell after tummy trouble hurt his time in a 1983 marathon. PowerBars, which arrived in stores in 1987, also established the industry's base-line "taffy" texture, which one avid biker describes as "extruded rubber."
California at Berkeley distance-running coach Brian Maxwell after tummy trouble hurt his time in a 1983 marathon. PowerBars, which arrived in stores in 1987, also established the industry's base-line "taffy" texture, which one avid biker describes as "extruded rubber."
Tiger Sport
Tiger's Milk, the bike-shop standard, technically predates PowerBar, but failed to start a snack-food revolution. This "sport" version tries to play catch-up by imitating the classic PowerBar. Best storage advice: "In , keep close to body to maintain soft texture."
Stoker
More or less the same as the above, though Stoker prides itself on using "healthy" brown rice syrup instead of the usual high-fructose corn syrup.
2ND GENERATION: Tastier energy bars
All consumer research, says one consumer researcher, points to the same conclusion: Bars that taste better sell better.
Clif Bar
Clif Bar attempts to scale the industry's steep bluffs of rock-hard texture and miserable taste -- with fairly convincing results. There are those who swear the Carrot Cake actually tastes like carrot cake, but these are people who seldom see the inside of a bakery.
PowerBar Harvest
PowerBar's "moist and crunchy" answer to Clif.
Verve
Whole Foods Market's answer to Harvest.
3RD GENERATION: Granola bar wannabes
Thick, chewy and "natural" looking, these bars flaunt "real" ingredients -- like oats and raisins. Didn't these used to be called granola bars? Few bother with exhaustive, eye-straining nutrition charts.
Boulder Bar
Claims to get its energy from "real food," including figs, which are what it tastes like.
Odwalla Bar!
Squeezes carrots and dates (or cranberries or peanut butter), along with oats, rice and other specks of actual food, into a surprisingly pliant bar.
Bear Valley MealPack
Thick with visible nuts, raisins and coconut, this "concentrated food bar" looks the part, but tastes more or less like sawdust.
NUTRITION BARS
Nutrition bars are designed to pack maximal protein and vitamins into minimal space (that is, until they expand in your stomach). Most bars recommend follow-up with a tall glass of water. As a sort of consolation prize, nutrition bars almost always come "enrobed," as the parlance has it, usually in chocolate.
1ST GENERATION: A very small lunch box
A square meal in hand-held form, depending on your definition of a meal.
Balance
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