Customer Reviews

Earth's Best Organic Sunny Days Snack Bars, Apple, 5.3-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After reading a number of confusing reviews that highlight LARGE discrepancies in sugars, organics and nutrition contents, I decided to investigate for myself.

I compared Earth's Best Apple snack bars (my little guy's favorite) with Health Valley Apple Cobble cereal bars and Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Apple Cinnamon.

Packaging:

Earth's Best snack bars are KID-sized. Only 19g.

The other two are 37g each.

As most parents know, having things in smaller packages is handy because kids often don't eat all of what you give them. So unless you always remember to carry extra baggies or storage containers around, Earth's Best has the no-waste edge.

***For the rest of this review, the numbers I give for Earth's best are based on a doubling of serving size from 19g to 38g so as to be on relative equal footing with the other two bars***

Sugars:

Nutri-Grain (NG): 12g

Health Valley (HV): 16g

Earth's Best (E'sB): 18g

So, yes, Earth's best does have the highest sugar content of the three, but that's assuming your child will eat the whole 37/38g worth of bar.

Mine won't.

And, if you consider the source of the sugars (which, believe it or not, matters to some people), Health Valley and Earth's Best derive theirs primarily from evaporated can juice, honey, and the apple itself.

Nutri-Grain lists high-fructose corn syrup and plain ol' sugar almost a dozen ingredients before you actually see 'apple puree' listed.

One final sugar note, when ANY kind of fruit is reduced to a concentrate, its level of sugar (fructose) becomes concentrated as well. That's why it may take a whole apple to equal the same amount of sugar found in a couple of tablespoons of the concentrated apple found in a processed snack.

Ingredients:

Just a reminder, what's listed first on the ingredients label is what the product contains the most of, and so on down to the bottom.

If you think your child is eating an apple snack bar, then apple should be the first thing list, not near the last.

Organics:

Read the labels thoroughly.

Healthy Vally claims 70% organic.

Earth's Best claims made with Organic Whole Wheat.

Neither of these items claims to be 'ORGANIC' in its entirety. So don't be miffed if you see the word and think it means the whole product only to find out it doesn't.

Other Nutrition consideration:

Fiber: This is the one truly weak point of Earth's Best. It list NONE. The other two each list 3g. Now, I'm not 100% certain that 0g for the E'sB 19g serving also means 0g for a double serving, but it's safe to assume that it would still be less than 1g.

Vitamins: E'sB wins this one. Narrowly beating out Nutri-grain with added Zinc, Iron, Thiamin and Folic Acid, though a tad less on Riboflavin and Niacin.

Health Valley has modest amounts of vitamins, but nothing to compare with the other two.

This said, if you're the kind of parent who is truly concerned about a well-balanced diet, you know that the value of vitamins from these sources isn't as good as getting them from fresh fruits and vegetables, so don't bank on these bars as a multivitamin alternative.

Sodium:

NG: 110mg

HV: 85mg

E'sB: 90mg (45mg/19g)

Protein:

At the 37/38g serving size, all offer 2g.

Total carbs:

NG: 24g (8%)

HV: 27g (9%)

E'sB: 28g (9%)...but 14g/19g serving size

Calories:

NG: 120

HV: 130

E'sB: 140...70/19g serving size

And an added note on calories: kids are active little things and hardly want to sit to eat or do anything to take away from their play/work.

While I do prefer to give my little guy as much 'fresh' stuff as possible (and I give him a fair amount), he fills up on it, but burns through the energy (i.e. calories) quickly and is loathe to pause long to eat again.

This said, when you can find a SMALL, tasty supplemental snack that's relatively healthy and also packs on the calories for your little one, then you often stick with it.

The Verdict:

If cost is the most important factor when choosing a cereal bar, then, yes, Nutri-Grain is likely your best bet.

If convenience of size and nutritional content drive you (despite cost), then Earth's Best is definitely the way to go.

Health Valley has it's taste merits, but lacks in other ways.

I 100% believe of the value of paying a little more for Earth's Best smaller bars because it provides a compact, calorie and nutrient rich snack that is fairly healthy.

We received two of the Earth's Best Bars in a holiday gift bag for our toddler. In an 18 gram bar, there were about 6 grams of sugar--a full third of the bar is sugar. No wonder there are rave reviews about how much the toddlers are enjoying them!

Our kids (2 and 4) love these bars. They've been eating them since about age 1 -- bars are moist, flavorful. The bars also travel well; we always take them with us on family outings, short or long, and we know the kids will eat them.

I have two children (3 and 21 months), and they love these snack bars. If I let them they will eat a box in two day. I haven't found anything else that is as consistent a pleaser as these snack bars.

I don't have kids -- I'm the one who LOVES these bars!! Unlike a lot other power bars (Cliff, Luna, Balance), the sugar level is actually lower, the vitamins and minerals are just as high or higher, and the calories are WAY Way lower (just 70 calories each, compared to 210-280 for the others). AND to top it off, I find them more filling as well. They really are fabulous for carrying a snack in your purse or book-bag. Sometimes I eat a couple for lunch, and am really satisfied. makes a great late-night snack too. Two thumbs way up!! :)
PS: I've had both the strawberry and the apple -- both are really great. They actually taste like real natural fruit preserves, not like sugary jam some other bars tend to taste like.

My 14 month old loves these. She doesn't have many teeth yet and they are easy to chew. It makes a great snack.

These are a great snack to stick in the diaper bag or send off to daycare, but please note that there is nothing on the package that indicates or claims that they are fully organic. There are some organic ingredients listed, and the box indicates there are no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Otherwise they are good bars!

My son loves these and I like them because they are organic, but they break apart easily and when I turn around, my son is a sticky mess! Not the type of snack you give a toddler in the car or stroller.

These are great, they taste like the best apple pie you have ever eaten. At 70 calories they are a healthy and low fat for adults too!

My 1 year old son is underweight due to severe food allergies. He can't have even the smallest amount of dairy or egg. Getting him enough calcium has really been a challenge. These bars are easy to self feed and each contin 20% of the recommended daily value of calcium. They travel well and are great to keep in the diaper bag.