February 23, 2008

Maca Bars

As a busy girl in the city who chooses to ‘brown bag it’ I’m always on the lookout for tasty gluten free protein/energy bar to keep in purse/desk/gym bag. As I was perusing the labels of the energy bars at Whole Foods I found the Maca Bar. Maca is from the Andes and was a staple of the Inca diet. It is supposed to be great for all sorts of things. All the nutrition can be found on the Potent Foods website. The label claims that it is gluten free but the fine print notes that gluten is processed in the same facility. I made an inquiry to the company and received this reply:

Hi Vittoria,

I just got back from a trip.

The gluten that is done in the plant is mostly oats. It is made in a totally separate area. The line that we make the bars on is totally spotless, having undergone a kosher inspection with the Rabbi.

We have many celiac patients that eat the Organic Maca Bar on a regular basis. There have never been any reports of problems.

That said, as a doctor, I have to advise you do what you feel comfortable with.

Please let me know, if you do try the bars, how you like them.

Best regards,

Dr. BJ Adrezin
President/CEO
POTENT FOODS, Inc.
5835 SW Corbett Avenue
Portland, OR 97239
Phone: (503) 367-6763
Fax: (503) 961-9700
Doctor@PotentFoods.com
www.PotentFoods.com

I tried all three flavors and found them to be very satisfactory. Not your average energy bar, soft and moist with tart and not too sweet. There are little bits of fruit and chocolate mixed in. The Maple Chunk Fudge had bits of raw maple sugar. The label notes that there might be little bits of shell, and I did find a tiny piece. I can’t say that it increased my endurance or that felt any different after eating it, but it tasted great and satisfied my hunger AND sweet tooth.

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