Muesli Bars

I’ve received a few questions recently about muesli bars, so I hung-out in the local supermarket for a solid hour (it's my job to be a food nerd) trying to compare brands and determine which products would be the healthiest options.

Each product was compared via the “Per 100g” column on the Nutritional Panel. This allowed different sized muesli bars to be equally compared. I set myself the following (pretty strict) guidelines, as can be found at www.eatforhealth.gov.au:

Per 100g
Total Fat: less than 10g
Saturated Fat: less than 1.5g
Sugar: less than 15g
Sodium: less than 120mg
Fibre: greater than 6g
(These guidelines can be used for other packaged products such as breakfast cereals and bread).


Top five muesli bars (in no particular order):

Brand: Goodness Superfoods
Product: Fibre Boost Cranberry Nut Cereal Bars
Total Fat: 13.6g
Saturated Fat: 1.4g
Sugar: 10.8g
Sodium: 27mg
Fibre: 25.6g
(If you don’t currently eat much fibre in your diet, the Goodness Superfoods bars could cause its fair share of a cheek squeak! Start with half a bar per day for a few days, and drink plenty of water).

Brand: Goodness Superfoods
Product: Apple Honey Cereal Bars
Total Fat: 10.7g
Saturated Fat: 1.3g
Sugar: 15.1g
Sodium: 28mg
Fibre: 26.3g

Brand: Goodness Superfoods
Product: Fibre Boost Cranberry Vanilla Cereal Bars
Total Fat: 13.6g
Saturated Fat: 1.4g
Sugar: 10.8g
Sodium: 27mg
Fibre: 25.6g

Brand: Freedom Foods
Product: Crunchola Chewy Apricot, Coconut & Chia Bars
Total Fat: 8.4g
Saturated Fat: 1.9g
Sugar: 15.7g
Sodium: 30mg
Fibre: 9.4g

Brand: Freedom Foods
Product: Crunchola Chewy Apples & Cinnamon
Total Fat: 8.9g
Saturated Fat: 2.1g
Sugar: 14.3g
Sodium: 30mg
Fibre: 9.7g


Muesli bars are a very convenient snack, and certainly have a place in some diets (ie: athletes), however they lack the nutrients and taste (in my opinion) of real food. If you have the time to prepare a snack, consider the following options which offer the “whole package” of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals):

• A hardboiled egg and a piece of fruit;


• Leftover veggies from dinner with hummus or tzatziki dip;


• Low fat Greek yogurt and nuts;


• Sliced tomato, cottage cheese and cracked pepper on wholegrain toast.

Hopefully a comments section should be available in the near future, however in the meantime if you have any questions, or would like to know more, please send me an email via hannah@gcpfitness.com.