In our family, we always look for what’s in a product AND also what’s not in a product. This is not just for health reasons, or wanting to support a better food system, but also because my sister has severe allergies to all nuts and peanuts, and also many sensitivities. When my sister saw the Zego Bars label on their website, after a friend of hers in the US told her about them, declaring that their energy bars are gluten-free, allergen-tested, peanut-free, tree nut-free, soy-free, vegan, paleo, and organic, she prayed that they would be delicious, and wanted to order them. Although these “Allergy Friendly Gluten-Free Soy Free Peanut Free Organic Energy Bars” are not available yet in Canada, they are a small company based out of San Francisco and are worth finding a way to get them!
The bars come in three flavours – Fudgy Chocolate, Apple Cinnamon, and Coconut Ribbon. I would suggest trying them all. The bars are made with chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, coconut, dates, chocolate, non-GMO sorghum, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, sacha inchi seeds, and apples. On their website, they proudly declare to be gut-friendly, brain-friendly, allergy-friendly, and blood-sugar friendly – this is quite something for a packaged food!
My dad was in California on a business trip last week, so my mom jumped at the chance and ordered a sampler pack. My little brother took one look at the words “Fudgy Chocolate” on the package and immediately “needed” one. We took a quick picture and then he ripped the package open, took one bite and said, “order a lot of these.” If you know my brother, this is quite the endorsement!
As you’d expect by the name, the Fudgy Chocolate bar was chocolatey and delicious – made from batter that is 55% chocolate chips combined with sunflower seed butter and dates which make for a chewy, sweet but not too sweet chocolatey taste. The chia and poppy-seed added just the right crunchy texture to the smooth chocolate! All of us liked this one.
The Coconut Ribbon was a little bit plain for me, but it was still very good, so if you are more interested in the taste of the seeds and sunbutter, this is the bar for you!
The Apple Cinnamon bar, in my opinion, is the best, by far. This bar tastes just like apple pie because they use real apple and cinnamon instead of artificial or “natural” flavours. They only use certified organic apples from the US, and because these are in high demand and short supply, they might not have the same variety of apples all the time, so they write on their website to “not be surprised if the Apple Cinnamon bars taste different each time”. The bars are chewy with a nice crunch from the dried apple, chia seeds, and poppy seeds.
After polishing off the three bars we tried, my little brother immediately asked for more – that’s how good they were! Actually, I think he asked for more even before he was finished the first one!
If you are looking for a packaged snack that is actually healthy and delicious and also allergen-free, Zego Bars are the perfect on-the-go food for you!
