Mine are on their way. Review and thoughts will follow.
Any got them yet??
I can see why people will like them as they are more like a ‘chocolate bar’.
They are too soft like a mars bar for me, I prefer both of the old ones, but these will likely be more popular.
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I used to really like the old ones, even though a few reviewers were put off with how hard/dry they were.
The new ones arrived yesterday and they are really nice. I wouldn’t class them as a chocolate bar, as it is just a thin choc coating.
Chocolate is nice, the caramel is really good and the cereal is moist and chewy.
All in all a better product, for me at least.
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I received a couple of Chocolate Caramel boxes yesterday and had my first for breakfast this morning. Initial thoughts (likely to change as I plough through the box):
- Smaller than old bar and old protein bar, though 2 grams heavier than old protein bar (I have both side by side).
- Much sweeter than both predecessors, I would describe it a cross between a Mars Bar and a Milky Way.
- Doesn’t seem as filling as either of its predecessors, I was hungry by 11AM, not sure if this is just a one off.
Overall I like it, but I also liked my original Protein Bar (a lot), I think I will get used to the sweetness, I just hope it is almost as filling otherwise it will be kicked out of my breakfast routine.
Previous complete nutrition bar for comparison
Bit less salt. Bit more protein. Bit more fibre.
Less sugar.
But what’s being counted as sugar/carbs.
I bet the maltalol is counted as carbs (like maltadextrkn is - despite behaving like sugar in the body)
Hmm.
Yes it is one of the sugar alcohols that does contain carbs - not all do - it equates to half its weight in its contribution to carbs although they are typically used in very small volumes (because of their laxative effect). The name sugar alcohol is a bit misleading as they don’t contain alcohol or sugar,
Yes, I remember some chemistry from my A level, long ago as it was.
My concern is that if the maltalol is counted as carbs it disguises the amount of sugar (or sugar behaving chemical) in the recipe.
Similar to how eg. Slim fast has loads of maltodextrin listed as a carb and lists low sugar.
The maltodextrin is metabolised like sugar - giving glucose spikes in blood etc.
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got you - sugar alcohols don’t cause spikes in blood sugar as they are absorbed slower - Maltitol can reduce the rise in blood glucose and insulin levels.
Just had my first time. Thoughts are it’s a big improvement on the Huel bar. The Mars/Snicker/Milky Way comparison is pretty spot on. However, it doesn’t feel like a replacement for the protein bar. I hope we still get a more substantial replacement for that too, with more calories and 20g+ of protein.
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Good to know thanks.
24 bars (51 grams each) for $65 comes to $2.71 a bar. No thanks
Also interesting Huel doesn’t say how many grams of sugar alcohols (maltitol) are in it. Probably a ton being it’s the first ingredient in the coating and also the 5th ingredient overall
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You could probably guesstimate it based on a similar product – for Grenades, their chocolate also uses Malitol as the largest single ingredient of the chocolate at 27% of the coating, so if the coating here is 24% of the ingredients then the Maltitol would be around 3.3g.
Actually according to some research that’s not true
Maltitol syrup has a glycemic index of 52 , which approaches that of table sugar at 60. The glycemic index is a measure of the effects of food on raising your blood glucose level. The powdered form has a glycemic index of 35, which is still higher than most other sugar alcohols and higher than all artificial sweeteners.
its not perfect for sure, but Maltitol is not completely digested like sugar and results in a slower rise in blood sugar and insulin levels compared to sucrose and glucose. It’s still an effective alternative for people with diabetes but of course in these cases - you always have to be watchful of anything you eat. I guess they selected this one for the taste profile as it’s fairly inert in taste and no aftertaste.
I had a quick look around various product sites and diabetic confectionaery guides and all appear to use powdered Malitol - presumably as it behaves in the same way as sugar in the process.
Side edit and kind of unrelated but this study looks interesting too where they tested Malitol as a imaging contrast agent for cancer scanning and part of the results showing that it didn’t raise glucose levels and the body processed it out in about an hour.
Is there anyone from Huel who can please clarify
how much Maltiilol syrup and powder in each bar
Just had my first one. Choc caramel.
First impression
Soft chewy texture.
Flavour is…ok. Not very chocolate. Not as sweet as I was expecting. .The caramel tastes slightly weird and synth to me.
There is a little undertone of actual food in the taste. I don’t mind it - similar to previous Huel bar. It feels a bit less filling and I think I feel a slight glucose spike a few minutes after. I’ll confirm this after more testing.
Overall first impression I think I prefer 3.1 bars but not by much.
I would prefer stevia - aftertaste or not.
All this is subject to change…
Sugar alcohols in Grenade bars:
Carb Killa Salted caramel - 15 grams
Peanut nutter - 13
Peanut butter and jelly - 17
Birthday Cake - 15
Chocolate Crunch - 12
Dark chocolate mint 13
These grenade bars have really high amounts of sugar alcohols.
I would bet Huel is using similar values especially being people are saying these bars are very sweet tasting.
Hi – I was trying to estimate the amount in the chocolate based on other bars formulas because that’s what I thought the questions was – as for the amount in other ingredients its harder to say and as the recipe is part of the IP so they probably won’t let that be known – you can try and calculate it based on the knowns though. So again, you could try estimate those based on the fact its less than 9% (because it appears lower in the list than peanuts which are stated as 9%) and also factor in they contribute about half their weight in carbs. So if you can work out what carbs are used by the other ingredients (I guess by comparing the previous bars without chocolate) then you’re going to get in the ball park.
@Phil_C
I’m not sure where you are getting 9% is peanuts.
I’m more interested in grams of sugar alcohols per bar not percent.
I’ve been eating bars for years and this is the first one that has not listed the amount of sugar alcohols on the label.
My first experience with sugar alcohols was about 20 years ago. I was at a health show exhibition and one of the booths were giving away free bars. I ate it and within minutes got the shits. Looked at the label and saw sugar alcohols. Long story short is my body doesn’t react well to sugar alcohols.
HI its stated in the ingredients:
yeah - that is their unfortunate side effect - I think that came to light more to the general public with the infamous Amazon reviews of Haribo’s Sugar free gummies.
I’m guessing you may be particularly sensitive to this effect as a lot of the guidance you read implies that 50g or more is when it starts pulling water into the gut and triggering the laxative effect - although I noticed a lot of products also put a caution if they contain more than 10g in a 100g it may also do the same - which I guess is the tipping point for people with a lower tolerance.
Personally I have different responses to different polyols – Xylitol is by far the worse for me.