Perfect Bars and Barbara's Original Morning Oat Crunch
YOUR product requests! A review of nutrition facts and ingredients to help you make an informed choice.
Hello, readers! In this week’s post, I’m reviewing two products you asked for: Perfect Bars and Barbara’s Original Morning Oat Crunch cereal. As a reminder, paid subscribers can request products to review - thank you so much for your support! 💚
I’ve also had a few questions about David protein bars lately. If you missed it, you can catch my full David protein bar review here.
If you haven’t already, check out my first Product Review Roundup here for some important context. As a reminder, when I review a product, I’m considering:
Level of processing.
How the product fits into a healthy dietary pattern. Reminder: no single food has the power to make you healthy or unhealthy.
Where nutrients are sourced from in a product (ingredients), and how significant an ingredient is in contributing to the nutritional value of the food (nutrition facts).
Marketing claims.
How the product compares to others on the market.
Let’s discuss.
Perfect Bars
Perfect Bar is described on their website as “a refrigerated protein bar packed with whole food protein and 20+ superfoods, sweetened with organic honey.”
It’s widely available across Canada and the U.S., and comes in a variety of flavours - from classic peanut butter to seasonal limited editions. It markets itself as a more “natural” option compared to the average protein bar.
Nutrition Profile
The Peanut Butter Perfect Bar contains 19 g of fat, including 3 g of saturated fat, primarily from peanut butter, with smaller amounts from whole egg powder, flaxseed oil, sesame oil, olive oil, and pumpkin seed oil. It has 50 mg of sodium, naturally occurring from the ingredients (no added salt). Each bar provides 27 g of carbohydrates, including 3 g of fibre and 19 g of sugar. The sugar is mostly from honey, with smaller contributions from dry milk and trace sources in the other ingredients. Lastly, this bar also provides 17 g of protein, coming from a mix of peanut butter, dry milk, whole egg powder, and rice protein.
Overall Review
First, let’s clarify how these bars are classified, because whether or not these bars are a good option for you depends on how you use them. Although the company markets them as protein bars, I would classify Perfect Bars as energy bars based on their nutrition profile. They’re calorie-dense and high in all macronutrients, whereas most protein bars are lower in calories (typically around the 150–200 range), with higher protein and lower fat and carbohydrate content.
For people who need concentrated fuel, energy bars can be helpful. Think:
Athletes with high calorie and nutrient needs
Individuals with poor appetite or who struggle to meet their nutrient needs with whole foods alone
Long hikes or tournament days when meals are delayed
In these scenarios, you’re looking for quick, portable sources of calories, carbs (yes, sugar too), protein, and fat, and Perfect Bar provides all of those. In addition, Perfect Bars are one of the more minimally processed options in the packaged bar category. They contain simple ingredients, without added preservatives, flavourings, or colours. They’re basically as close to you smushing ingredients together in your kitchen to make an energy bar as you can get in a store-bought option.
Here are a couple more examples of why the context of an energy bar matters:
In addition to the calorie content, Perfect Bars are high in sugar, primarily from honey. For the average person, this is more added sugar than I recommend in a protein bar. But in the context of an energy bar, that sugar serves a functional role: quick fuel and flavour.
Finally, these bars are lower in fibre than some protein bars (especially those with added fibre), which is actually ideal for situations where easy digestion is needed, like during a tournament, a long hike, or any time you're fuelling on the go.
So, if you’re looking for an energy bar, Perfect Bars offer an excellent, minimally processed option with good quality ingredients. But for the average person, Perfect Bars are probably more calorie-dense than what you need for a snack. If you’re not specifically looking for a way to increase your energy intake, you’re likely better off with a protein bar (you can check out my Guide to Choosing a Protein Bar here) that’s lower in sugar and calories, or, of course, a whole food snack.
TL; DR: Perfect Bars are an excellent, minimally processed option for those who need an energy bar (but most of us don’t).
Barbara's Original Morning Oat Crunch
Barbara’s Original Morning Oat Crunch cereal is marketed as a heart-healthy cereal option. It is widely available across Canada and the U.S.
Nutrition Profile
A 1 ¼ cup serving of Barbara’s Original Morning Oat Crunch contains 2.5 g of fat (including 0.5 g saturated), primarily from whole grains. It provides 230 mg of sodium from sea salt. Each serving delivers 45 g of carbohydrates, sourced from whole grain oats, whole grain wheat, cane sugar, and molasses, including 10 g of sugar and 6 g of fibre. The cereal also provides 7 g of protein, coming from whole grains and added pea protein.
Overall Review
The highlights of Barbara’s Original Morning Oat Crunch cereal include that it’s high in fibre, including 2 g of soluble fibre from oats. This allows it to use the heart health claim you see featured prominently on the front of the package. You can read more about this claim in my review of Cheerios and the oat heart health claim here. In addition, the ingredients are relatively simple, with the only non-nutritive ingredient being tocopherols, a preservative that I’ve reviewed previously.
One ingredient worth noting is that this cereal has added protein in the form of pea protein. However, most whole-grain cereals contain a similar amount of protein (found naturally in whole grains), so this really isn’t contributing significantly to the protein content.
The main downside of this cereal is its sugar content, which is higher than many other whole-grain cereal options and exceeds the target I recommend in my Guide to the Cereal Aisle. For perspective, cereals currently on the market range from 0 - 22 g of sugar per serving. So, before selecting this cereal, consider your diet as a whole. If your diet is generally low in added sugar, it may still be a suitable option. Otherwise, consider selecting a lower-sugar cereal, like the brands I recommend in my cereal guide.
TL; DR: Good source of fibre with simple ingredients, but higher in sugar compared to other whole-grain options on the market.
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Talk soon,
~Brittany
“The Grocery Edit” is written by Brittany Raftis, MScFN, RD. She works as a Registered Dietitian and is passionate about helping people sort through the confusion of ingredients and nutrition facts to reduce stress surrounding daily food choices. She uses an evidence-based approach to clear up misinformation about nutrition and help people select the right products to support their health and enjoyment of food.
Appreciate your work! I picture you marching through a swamp with a machete.
Good reviews. Thank you!