Banana Walnut, Cinnamon Raisin, Orange Cranberry, and Chocolate Brownie. Do those sound like tasty ways to get your fiber? Well, they are; especially the Chocolate Brownie. It really does taste like you want it to.

The first three Gnu Bars have no corn syrup or refined sugars, no cholesterol, no Trans fat or hydrogenated oils, no preservatives, artificial flavors or colorings, no yeast, dairy or whey. They have a lot of soluble and insoluble fiber, 12 grams per bar. They are low in fat, fruit juice sweetened, 130 calories, made with organic whole wheat flour, aluminum-free baking powder, are vegan and Kosher. They also have oats, wheat bran, psyllium, flax, millet, soy flour, raisins, walnuts, apples, plums, cranberries, and rice. Each bar will vary the ingredient list.

The Chocolate Brownie is the only one that does have chocolate chips that contain chocolate, cane sugar, lecithin, and vanilla. It also has 140 calories, and is not fruit-juice sweetened.

The company states that each bar contains nearly 50% of your daily value of fiber in just one bar. They also state that one Banana Walnut bar will give you the equivalent of four 8-ounce glasses of Orange Flavor Metamucil®. That is a lot of fiber! Each one of my children enjoyed the bars (ages four through twelve). They would choose to eat these and I would be happy to serve them. The flavors were all excellent, strong, and enjoyable. They were far more satisfying than a regular granola bar.

The one negative is that for a family of our size (seven people) they are not very affordable. Of course the more you buy, the more you save, but to purchase a case of 16 bars is still $23.99 plus shipping at the time of this writing. For our family of seven, that is 2 bars a piece plus two extra. They do offer a Joy of Fiber Program where you can purchase 15 Bars a month for $20.97 or 30 Bars a month for $38.94 (plus shipping). This offers a significant savings of 30-35% off the price of a single bar, but it is still a lot for a large family. I would be more likely to buy a handful of bars at the store (if I was to find them there) as a snack or a treat than to make the bars a regular part of our diet due to the price. This is really unfortunate to me because they are a very high quality product that I wanted to use regularly.

However, if price is not really an issue for your family, it is highly likely that you will be very happy to add these to your household diet. The taste is superb, the quality is unmatched in anything I have seen in this market, and the children like them too. Check them out on their website and see if they will work for you.

-Product Review by Kate Kessler, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March, 2007