Zone Perfect: Chocolate Peanut Butter Review
March 23, 2008
I know, I know… yesterday was a holiday during which you overindulged and today it’s back to the diet… blah, blah. So I’ll be nice and talk about something healthy as opposed to tempting you with some rich chocolate & peanut butter desserts.
Tagline: All-Natural Nutrition Bars.
The Zone Perfect Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar weighs in at 210 calories for a 1.76 oz (50g) bar. The package contains a seal that brags “Great Taste Gurantee or Your Money Back”. Okay, Zone Perfect, you’re on.
The ingredients list is long and a little scary with the first two ingredients being soy protein nuggets and chocolate flavored coating. I really don’t like the idea of something having a chocolate flavoring. What does that mean? Is it real chocolate or is it pretending to be chocolate? And the bar expires in almost a full year from now (11 months) which tells me that it’s probably got some artificial preservatives and things lurking in there. As much as it’s annoying when I buy a mess of Odwallas and one of them expires, it is comforting to know that they don’t last all that long.
The body of this bar is what’s noted in the ingredients as “peanut butter fudge” and sealed all around with the “chocolate flavored coating.” While I’m feeling little pessimistic after reading the ingredients, the bar surprises me by actually being pretty decent. It’s no Odwalla or Cliff but the krispies in the peanut butter fudge make for a nice texture- not too chewy or crunchy, but right in the middle. Though it’s got a bit of a soy aftertaste to it, it’s also got a really nice, deep peanut butter flavor. While the chocolate “flavoring” is certainly no Scharffen Berger, it’s fine. Mostly I’m just happy that the chocolate isn’t ‘icky’ given its unattractive title.
Overall, the bar is dense and filling as a snack, but not filling enough to be called breakfast, at least for me. It’s a bar that I will likely purchase again. It’s not a favorite, though better than a lot of the crap protein bars that are out there and it’s pleasant enough that I would pick one up in a pinch. They also sell a snack size version that’s only 80 calories (.70 oz / 20.5g).
This Zone Perfect bar is a healthy way to get your chocolate and peanut butter fix!