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Zone perfect snack bars -- no longer Zone "Perfect" but still tastes great

Find out about the entire line of ZonePerfect snack products.

ZonePerfect has been expanding their line of Zone diet bars, and now have now come out with Zone Perfect snack bars that are smaller than their regular sizes.

These contain 8 grams of protein and only 80-90 calories. The total size is 20.5 grams or 0.72 oz. And of course there're added vitamins and minerals. They come in Chocolate Peanut Butter and Fudge Graham flavors.

Their regular-sized Classic bars are 50 grams and 200 calories. They come in the flavors: Chocolate Almond Biscotti, Chocolate Coconut Crunch, Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Almond Raisin, Chocolate Mint, Cinnamon Roll, Chocolate Caramel Cluster, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Fudge Graham.

I'm not as fond of their Classic bars. They're okay, but have a puffed rice base so it's kind of like eating that holiday treat of balls or bars made from Rice Crispies held together with some sweetener.

Also, I just compared the above bars to the carbohydrates, proteins and fat in a Balance bar that is 40/30/30 Zone nutrition. They sizes are the same. The protein and fat amounts are the same. However, the Balance bar contains 21 grams and the ZonePerfect bars have 23 grams according to this site, so that explains why they not being now marketed as Zone-favorable 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. It's because they have 2 grams more of carbohydrates.

They also have a line of all-natural dark chocolate bars. Those are 45 grams (1.58 oz) and 190 calories. Flavors are: Dark Chocolate Almond, Dark Chocolate Strawberry, Double Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Cookies N' Creme, Dark Chocolate Mocha, Dark Chocolate Caramel Pecan.

These bars are delicious. They have a very rich, chocolatey taste. Their mix of protein, carbs and fat is not directly comparable. They're not labeled as Zone-compliant and they're not, but they're not far off either.

Then ZonePerfect has Fruitified bars. These are also 50 grams or 1.58 oz in size. They have 190 calories which is on the low side. They have more fat and carbohydrates, and therefore less protein, than bars meeting the Zone specifications.

Flavors are: Apple Cinnamon, Banana Nut, Blueberry, and Strawberry Yogurt.

They also have a new line of Indulgence squares. These are bars 45 grams in size with 180 calories. They too are not Zone favorable, with a higher amount of carbohydrates than the Zone plan.

Flavors are: Caramel Toffee, Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse, and German Chocolate Cheesecake.

Personally, I'm disappointed by what I see when I read their labels. I've been eating them thinking I was eating a Zone snack. Now I find out I've been eating too many carbohydrates. I'm not happy about that.

In their history page they agree they started out with 40/30/30 Zone nutrition bars. They don't say when or why they abandoned this principle. It's sort of deceptive when they call themselves Zone "Perfect" -- and yet none of their bars are any longer strictly Zone favorable.

The best thing I can say is that they're better than many other nutrition meal bars you can find the marketplace. If you can't find a truly Zone bar, you can eat one of these and it's still a lot better than a candy bar.

But Zone Perfect snack bars have lost their Zone perfection.