The market for protein bars has changed dramatically over the last few years. While the majority of bars are now made gluten free, there are more and more new brands being built that are completely dedicated to the increasing vegan community. Some existing bar manufacturers are also beginning to jump on the Vegan Bandwagon and release vegan versions of their bars.
Many reasons for switching to a vegan diet are health related. Another important reason are reports about animal cruelty and inhumane conditions of live stock keep being revealed in the news, so are studies about meat contamination with blood, feces and bodily fluids. Vegans try to make a difference in the world by choosing nutrition that doesn’t derive from animals.
To strengthen the vegan trend, more and more celebrities and public figures are publicly talking about their vegan diet, such as Natalie Portman, Al Gore, Tobey Maguire, Shania Twain, Casey Affleck, Alyssa Milano, Anne Hathaway, and Carrie Underwood. These are just some of the famous vegans and vegetarians who regularly appear in People magazine.
What’s a Vegan Diet?
People on a strict vegan diet do not eat any meat, poultry or fish just like vegetarians. In addition to that, vegans stay away from other animal products and by-products such as dairy products, honey and eggs. Even silk, wool, leather, fur, cosmetics and soaps are a “no go” as these products are derived from animals as well.
In order to receive the necessary nutrition, people on a vegan diet choose a variety of foods including fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, whole grain products, nuts, seeds and legumes.
What kind of protein is in a Vegan Protein Bar?
Almost all foods except alcohol, fats and sugars contain some protein. However, to achieve higher amounts of protein in a nutrition bar, manufacturer’s preferred choice are soy, peas and rice. But also peanut butter, peanuts and almonds contribute to the amount of protein in a vegan bar.
The risk of Cross Contamination during production
Brands that have a variety of bars with both milk and dark chocolate need to absolutely make sure that the manufacturer doesn’t produce both kinds on the same machines. Otherwise there could be traces of milk that make their way into the dark chocolate bars.
The FDA has a zero tolerance policy, which means that “milk” must be listed on both the ingredient and allergen statement if there is a slight chance that trace amounts of milk proteins might be present.
Earlier this year Zing Bars ran into a similar issue, because their chocolate supplier produces both milk and dark chocolate in the same plant and couldn’t guarantee that the dark chocolate wouldn’t have traces of milk protein in it. As a result, Zing Bars decided to voluntary recall three of their vegan bars in order to add milk as an allergen and ingredients to comply with FDA regulations. They still offer 4 truly vegan flavors though.
High protein Vegan Bars
Vegan protein bars usually come with 10-13 grams of protein per bar. If you are looking for more protein, check out Pure Fit Bars. They come with 18 grams of protein.
Check out our gluten free Vegan Protein Bars category to see the variety that’s on the market. The list contains only bars that we have cataloged so far. However, there are many more options on out there.
