PowerBar Pria - Freak Tested, Nerdling Approved!
Written: Mar 26 '03 (Updated Apr 22 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great for a quick snack, six great flavors, inexpensive.
Cons: Some flavors are hard to find, be sure to check the expiration date.
The Bottom Line: A great snack sized bar that is guaranteed to satisfy your craving.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Power Bar PowerBar Pria Bar - 15 Pack from Road Ru... |
PowerBar is a well-known name in sports nutrition and supplements, with products like Protein Plus, Power Gel and the Harvest line they have established themselves as a leader in this market. The Pria bar is smaller than others in the PowerBar family but extremely tasty and satisfying. My boys have fallen in love with these bars and choose these over candy bars most of the time. For me, these are great for an occasional treat but a little too high in carbohydrates [an average of 16 grams per bar] for me to eat them all the time.
Sport bars, energy bars, protein bars, recovery bars, supplement bars, meal replacement bars – with so many different products on the market you might get a little confused as to what these all do and which one is best for you. I classify the PowerBar Pria as a snack bar but according to the label it is a “nutritional energy snack bar”. The 28 gram bar [.98 ounces] is small but packed with a great tasting product [my opinion, yours may be different]. How small are they? At the risk of sounding like a complete pig, I can down one of these in four or five bites. Normally I try to stretch it out a bit and take smaller bites, chew it longer and savor the flavor but when I am starving and there is nothing within reach – this bar goes down like the Titanic.
Prices on these vary from place to place but I usually purchase them by the box from a distributor that cuts me a good price on them. You can expect to pay anywhere from .99 to $1.29 per bar if you are buying them individually or $14.00 - $17.00 for a box of 15 bars. If you haven’t tried these yet I suggest buying them individually to see which of the flavors you like – then go for the case so you can get a discount. If you are having trouble finding these in stores you can order them directly from the PowerBar site, see their online store for more details, flavors and prices.
The Nitty Gritty
It would seem rather pointless to give you the list of ingredients because there are so many different flavors so I’ll give you the basics about Double Chocolate Cookie bar [my personal favorite] as a guide. Not all bars will have exactly the same amount of calories, carbohydrates, fat and protein so please, check the PowerBar site for all the information. The Double Chocolate Cookie contains 110 calories, 5 grams of protein, 16 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fat with 2.5 grams being saturated fat. The chocolaty coating looks like dark chocolate and when you take that first bite it might not seem all that sweet or appealing. There isn’t much of an aftertaste to it unless you are drinking a soda or power drink with it. The texture of the bar reminds me of the Zone Perfect bar – crunchy with small little globs of goodness [cookie bits] that attack your taste buds. Granted, this isn’t as rich and creamy as a real candy bar but when you are dieting these are a real godsend.
The taste of these bars might not appeal to everyone so don’t rush out and buy a ton of them without sampling the flavors that are on the market. I mentioned that these reminded me of the Zone Perfect bar – but they also remind me of the old Carnation Breakfast Bars before they reformulated them. The dark chocolate taste might not be a big hit with those that are fond of the milk chocolate taste but when in the midst of a diet, these taste heavenly. Nutritionally these are average providing you with some minerals and vitamins [20% Iron, 60% Vitamin C, 15% Vitamin A, 15% Zinc] but overall these shouldn’t be considered a meal replacement or a single solitary food source.
Available Flavors
Currently the PowerBar Pria is available in six sinful flavors including: Double Chocolate Cookie, Chocolate Peanut Crunch, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Honey Graham, Crème Caramel Crisp and French Vanilla Crisp. My personal preference is for the Double Chocolate Cookie but you can’t go wrong with the Chocolate Peanut Crunch or Strawberry Shortcake either. I’m not sure if they are planning on expanding the line to include more flavors or not so be sure to check the website often [link provided at the end of the review].
What The Nerdlings Have To Say …
Three out of four of the Nerdlings love these, the other is a hooked on MetRX bars. If I am cracking open a fresh case of these they are right there with their little paws extended waiting for a few of them. They aren’t much for candy bars [but I have never seen them turn one down] or sweets but they seem to like the size, taste and flavors of the PowerBar Pria. It’s more like a candy bar than most sport supplement bars on the market and they love the fact that there isn’t an after taste [at least to them there isn’t one]. Around the house they’ll snack on them but if they are doing a day field trip they make me take them out of the package and put them in little baggies because they are “girlie” bars. It isn’t just the Pria that gets this treatment, if it is a sport bar - it goes in a plastic bag or it doesn’t go in their lunch.
Things To Know
There is a warning on the package that I think most sports nutritional companies should think about adding to their packaging - made on equipment that also process peanuts, nuts and milk. If I were allergic to any of these ingredients I would be more than thankful for the warning. Some people have varying degrees of allergic reactions to these products and I applaud PowerBar for putting this warning on their labels. So it goes without saying that if you have any allergies to these products you should avoid these bars or at the very least eat them with caution.
Be sure to look for the expiration date / best by date on the back of the package before you purchase them. If they are in a sealed case and don’t have the date printed on the box, please ask that it be opened so you can check the date. When ordering online request the vendor to tell you the expiration date or at the very least how quickly their stock is sold / how often it is rotated. Some companies have huge warehouses of products and it may be impossible for them to give you an exact date. If you do receive bars that are expired, please contact PowerBar about this and provide them with the company name, date of purchase and price paid.
You should store these in a cool dry place to avoid a real disaster [and mess] when opening the package. The bar is coated in chocolate so if the weather is getting warmer you might want to consider moving them to the refrigerator to keep them from melting. After mid April all the bars automatically go in the refrigerator to keep them fresh and from melting and resolidifying into some bizarre shape. Don’t buy more bars than you plan on eating in a certain period of time [say, 45 days] to ensure that you always have fresh product on hand. Personally I feel that heat is more detrimental to a bar than being in the refrigerator, but that is just my take on the subject. If you do place these in the refrigerator you may notice a thin white film on the chocolate coating, this is nothing to be worried about. It’s called “bloom” and occurs when certain parts of the chocolate are exposed to a colder than normal setting. This does not effect the bar in any way so don’t freak out if you see it.
The Bottom Line
The PowerBar Pria might be small but it is enough to safely get you over your craving when you are starting or trying to complete a diet. Being that these contain, on average, 16 grams of carbohydrates they might not be for someone who is doing a strict ketosis diet but it would be far less devastating to eat half of one of these than to completely snap and finish off a bag of M&M’s or box of cereal. I consider these a great healthy snack for my boys and as long as they continue to ask for them, I’ll continue to buy them. If you are on a diet and find yourself with cravings that simply won’t quit, I highly suggest checking out the PowerBar Pria line of bars for a flavor that will appeal to you.
To get more nutritional information about the PowerBar Pria line, visit the official site here: http://www.powerbar.com/products/pria/index.asp. For help location this bar, please call their toll free number at [800] 58-POWER Monday through Friday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm Pacific Standard Time.
As always, thanks for the visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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