Are Nature Valley Bars Vegan 2023? All Flavors Reviewed


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Nature Valley bars are a delicious and convenient snack for people on the go. Whether you’re looking for something to munch on during a long work day or need an energizing pre-workout snack, Nature Valley bars have you covered. But, are Nature Valley Bars vegan?

Peanut Butter Crunchy Granola Bars are vegan because they don’t contain ingredients derived from animals. Many more flavors might be vegan but they contain natural flavors, which could contain ingredients sourced from animals.

Below is a table showing Nature Valley Bars flavors and its vegan status.

FlavorVegan Status
Roasted Almond Crunchy Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Pecan Crunchy Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Crunchy Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Peanut Butter Crunchy Granola BarsVegan.
Oats ‘n Dark Chocolate Crunchy Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Maple Brown Sugar Crunchy Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Cinnamon Crunchy Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Apple Crisp Crunchy Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Oats ‘n Honey Crunchy Granola BarsNo, contains Honey.
Trail Mix Fruit & Nut BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Dark Chocolate Cherry Fruit & Nut BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Dark Chocolate & Nut Fruit & Nut BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Cranberry & Pomegranate Fruit & Nut BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Chocolate Chip Soft-Baked Muffin BarNo, contains Milk & Egg.
Blueberry Soft-Baked Muffin BarsNo, contains Milk & Egg.
Apple Cinnamon Soft-Baked Muffin BarsNo, contains Milk & Egg.
Xl Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Protein BarsNo, contains Milk.
Salted Caramel Nut Protein Chewy BarsNo, contains Milk.
Peanut, Almond & Dark Chocolate Protein Chewy BarsNo, contains Milk.
Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Protein Chewy BarsNo, contains Milk.
Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Protein Chewy BarsNo, contains Milk.
Blueberry Nut Protein BarsNo, contains Milk.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Sweet & Salty Granola BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Roasted Mixed Nut Sweet & Salty Granola BarsNo, contains Milk.
Peanut Sweet & Salty Granola BarsNo, contains Milk & Honey.
Peanut Minis Sweet & Salty Nut Granola BarsNo, contains Honey.
Dark Chocolate, Peanut & Almond Sweet & Salty Granola BarsNo, contains Milk.
Dark Chocolate, Peanut & Almond Minis Sweet & Salty BarsMaybe, contains Natural Flavor.
Chocolate Pretzel Nut Sweet & Salty Granola BarsNo, contains Milk.
Cashew Sweet & Salty Granola BarsNo, contains Milk.
Almond Sweet & Salty Granola BarsNo, contains Milk.
Pretzel Peanut Butter Wafer BarsNo, contains Milk.
Peanut Butter Wafer BarsNo, contains Milk.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Wafer BarsNo, contains Milk.

Nature Valley Bars Ingredients

Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.

  • Almonds
  • Baking Powder
  • Baking Soda
  • Barley Malt Extract
  • Brown Sugar Syrup
  • Canola Oil
  • Cashews Roasted In Safflower Oil
  • Chicory Root Extract
  • Chocolate Liquor
  • Cocoa
  • Cocoa Butter
  • Corn Starch
  • Corn Syrup
  • Cranberries
  • Dark Chocolate Chips
  • Dextrose
  • Dried Cherries
  • Dried Cranberries
  • Egg White
  • Fructose
  • Honey
  • Maltodextrin
  • Mixed Tocopherols
  • Monocalcium Phosphate
  • Natural Flavor
  • Nonfat Milk
  • Palm Kernel Oil
  • Palm Oil
  • Peanut
  • Peanut Butter (Peanuts
  • Peanut Flour
  • Pectin
  • Raisins
  • Rice Flour
  • Rice Starch
  • Roasted Peanuts
  • Roasted Sunflower Seeds
  • Salt
  • Semisweet Chocolate Chips
  • Semisweet Chocolate Chunks
  • Soy Lecithin
  • Soy Protein Isolate
  • Sugar
  • Sugarcane Fiber
  • Sunflower Oil
  • Tapioca Syrup
  • Toasted Coconut
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Vegetable Glycerin
  • Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols)
  • Water
  • Whey
  • Whey Protein Concentrate
  • Whole Grain Oats
  • Whole Grain Wheat Flour

[Source]

As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.

Non-Vegan Ingredients

Milk & Egg

Milk and eggs comes from animals and are therefore not vegan-friendly.

Honey

Same goes with honey. It’s not suitable for vegans because bees makes the honey.

Questionable Ingredients

Sugar

Sugar can be a problem for vegans because of the possible presence of bone char from dead cows. The most common sugar types are beet sugar and cane sugar, with the latter being the most popular sugar in the candy and sweets industry.

Raw cane sugar is vegan, but it’s often refined to fit the products and in this process the sugar is also bleached. A common way to bleach cane sugar is to use bone char from dead cows and this can make the sugar non-vegan in many vegans eyes

Natural Flavor

Natural flavors is an umbrella term, which means that it can consist of different ingredients that is not disclosed. This means that it can contain ingredients from animals and it would not be disclosed on the ingredients label.

Palm Oil

Palm oil is a very controversial ingredient. Not only by vegans, but people all around the world. The deforestation issues, was brought to the public and a result of was a major boycott of products that contains palm oil.

A solution was set in place to but an end to the deforestation and to help companies to produce more sustainable palm oil with minimum impact on the environment. It’s called RSPO which stands for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

This would make the palm oil more vegan-friendly.

Corn & Soy

Soy and corn are two of the most common GMO crops in the US and many vegans stay away from these crops. The reason for this is the high amount of herbicide that is needed in order for the crop to grow. This can pollute the surrounding ecosystem and damage it severely.

Conclusion

There are many flavors of Nature Valley Bars that could be vegan, but they contain natural flavors which could contain ingredients sourced from animals. Remember to read the ingredients label because companies can change their recipes.

Thanks for reading, take care!

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