Review of Bobo's Oat Bars
Made in Boulder, Colorado
review by Ask a Healer
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Update: 1/16/2018:
I haven't ordered Bobo's Oat Bars online in a couple of years. I think they may be off my list of foods to eat. There are a few reasons besides the inconsistency in quality. First, they are a little sweet for my every day diet. I do better with less sugar. Also, I do better with less oats. Eating them occasionally is ok but I just feel better not eating any kind of grain every day. And finally, as I mention in the original review, they are just too expensive to risk getting a box that is half good and half dried out.
Update: 5/24/2015 I still eat Bobo's Oat Bars. I still love them. However, after purchasing them by the case for almost a year now, I've noticed an inconsistency in quality. In every case of 12 bars I buy, there are at least 3 that are very dry. I eat them because these bars are expensive but I don't enjoy it. When the bars are moist, they are soooooo delicious. But to have 1/4 of each case be dry is unacceptable. I reached out to Bobo's and they seemed responsive to my concerns. They even sent me four complementary bars. One of those four was dry. The ratio seems to be holding.
Also, I recently came across a very negative health report on the company. I warn you, the practices in place and reported on at the time would have made me gag if I were eating the bars then. Please bear in mind that this report is from 2010 and that the company would not still be allowed to sell these bars if they had not made some changes after this inspection report. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, here's the report: Bobo's Oat Bars Adulterated.
Now, to the original review: I fell in love with Bobo's Oat Bars the very first time I tried one. I love the original best of all but also enjoy the chocolate and coconut flavors. I think I first found them at a Whole Foods store somewhere...
I had often heard that eating oatmeal every day for a month could lower cholesterol but admit the reason I started buying Bobo's Oat Bars by the case was because I don't like to cook breakfast. If I don't have something nutritious at hand, I don't eat well in the morning. Remarkably, even after eating these bars for months, I'm not tired of them. I eat one most every day now.
What do Bobo's Original Flavor Oat Bars Taste Like? Very oat-y flavor so if you don't like oats, you may not like them. I find them sweet but not overly sweet and extremely dense. A bar for breakfast pretty much fills me up. They are soft and chewy, which I prefer to granola bars that are hard and crunchy. They go great with coffee.
As a nutritional bar the original flavor provides 3g of dietary fiber and 3g of protein. The original oat bar is fairly low in sugar, with only 9g but does contain 6g of fat, including 1.5g of saturated fat. I'm not one of those that fears saturated fats but if you are trying to limit, it may be something to consider. The original bar is Kosher, Wheat Free, Vegan and contains no alcohol or glutens. Bobo's also has a gluten-free line of bars but I have not tried those.
Questions I had about the ingredient listing: As much as I loved the taste and the full feeling with the bars, I had some definite questions about what seemed to ambiguous labeling. I wrote to the company to ask for clarification on several ingredients and was very impressed by their openess and willingness to respond.
Are these bars really non-GMO?
Here's a condensed version of some of the questions I had about the labeling:
There were ingredients named as organic, followed by ingredients not so named, there was a reference to "natural flavoring" which is a popular ingredient title for something containing hidden msg, and there were ingredients listed without the non-gmo title within the ingredient list. The label for the original flavor says "organic rolled oats" but then that is followed by rice syrup not stated as organic. I was nervous about sugar beets being an ingredient and, because not all items were labeled organic, I wondered if not all ingredients were non-gmo.
So here's what I ended up asking: Do ANY of the ingredients in ANY of the Bobo's Oat Bar flavors contain ANY GMO oils, sweeteners, grains, etc? MSG? Non-organic sourced ingredients?
Response from Bobo's Oat Bar Representative: "Our bars are certified non-GMO. They are not, however, certified organic. This is why some of the ingredients are not specified as organic. There is no MSG in our product. Our bars are non-GMO, do not contain MSG, and are 75% organic."
What about the fracking question?
At the time when I first found Bobo's nutritional bars, in June of 2014, and before I started eating them every day, the terrible flooding in Colorado happened. I had friends who were in the area who
reported on the polluting effects of this flooding, caused by fracking. I wrote again to the company, asking if ingredients for the bars were grown there and if the water was safe. This is the response:
"We do not use ingredients grown in Boulder. The City of Boulder had us on alert and shut down our water supply when it was not safe."
===>>> You can order Bobo's Bars online. I did that for a while but found quality inconsistent. However, I also found quality inconsistent when I bought the bars in a health food store so... anyway, have to say that amazon is easy and quick but you should keep in mind that, at least as far as I've been able to determine, amazon warehouses are not temperature-controlled so the potential for bars drying out or becoming moldy is bigger. Confident of amazon? OK. Read more reviews and order Bobo's Oat Bars securely on amazon. (Affiliate link but I am not being otherwise compensated for this review. It is my honest experience with the product.)
Disclaimer
Information here is correct to the best of my knowledge at the time of this postin on 12/14/2014. Policies change, ingredients change, labels change. If you have additional questions about Bobo's Oat Bars, I encourage you to contact the company directly. I found them quite transparent and willing to answer questions. None of the information on this page is intended to replace any needed medical evaluation, testing or treatment.
