PE Nutrition’s protein bars undercut the opposition but do they compromise on taste?

PE Nutrition The Bar

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£17.50 for 12 bars, hollandandbarrett.com (US shipping available)

Pros:

  • Cheap price
  • High in protein (21g)
  • Low in sugar

Cons:

  • Sickly orange flavour
  • Powdery texture
  • Long ingredient list

Taste: 3/5
Health: 4/5
Protein: 5/5
OVERALL: 3.5/5

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PE Nutrition’s The Bar range comprises of three regular flavours and three vegan varieties. Its protein is a blend of soy protein and whey protein isolate. We tested the chocolate orange flavoured bar, which has the most extensive ingredients list of any bar in this review.

PE Nutrition The Bar benefits

Top of the nutrition list, however, is protein, with 21g (the highest of any bar on test) packed into a single 60g serving. This is definitely a good post-workout option to keep in your kit bag – and at 193kcal it’s fairly low in calories too.

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PE Nutrition protein bars are low in sugar at 1.3g, sweetened with maltitol (polyol) and contain a relatively high 16g of polyols.

Acknowledging that taste and texture can be subjective, but for us the PE bar is too sweet, with a slightly sickly orange flavour that tastes synthetic. The texture is chewy, but it’s fairly powdery too, so the mouth feel is a little unusual.

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At £1.45 it’s the cheapest bar on test. If the sweet taste and slightly powdery consistency aren’t a concern this could be a good budget option, as it can deliver a substantial slice of your protein requirements.