Many struggle with choosing the proper nutrients, even though they are essential in our daily lives. There are far too many factors to consider in the decision, such as price, benefits, taste, and ingredients. These factors are important in determining what you would like to eat and when you want to eat it. A simple solution that plenty of people turn to is ‘protein bars’ for reasons such as their convenience and affordability.
Hershey, a well-known company famous for its chocolate, also produces protein bars, branding them as the “ONE Bars.” These protein bars have been popping up all across the market, and we were wondering if their “S’mores” flavor with 20 grams of protein was a good option for students and teachers here at Edison. We purchased two boxes of 12 bars for $24 each to give students a sample of this product. After interviewing multiple students and teachers, their overall review of the bar was a 3.91/5⭐.
“It didn’t taste too sweet, but still tasted good, it tasted like how I would expect a protein bar to taste,” said Israel Doman.
This student rated the protein bar a 5 out of 5 stars and said that he would eat it again because, “it provides a good amount of protein and also tastes really good.” He considered it to be a good bang for your buck and would purchase this bar in the future.
“It tastes really good and is packed with protein so it’s good for people trying to eat more protein and still enjoy the food they eat,” said Parisa Tahsin.
Another student who reviewed the bar gave it a strong recommendation after rating it 5 stars, they took into account the nutritional content, which made it especially enticing for them. As they saw the benefits in eating this alongside a balanced meal, it can make it even more effective.
Ian Durrant, a member of the Thomas A. Edison Boys Varsity Volleyball team, enjoys the bar and would buy it for the $2 price.
“Has a chocolate graham cracker taste with a hint of marshmallow,” Durrant said.
Hao Lin, another member of the Thomas A. Edison Boys Varsity Volleyball team, says that the bar tasted like chocolate and had a rough, but chewy after taste. He also said that even though there aren’t many sugars that’s contained in the bar, it is still sweet.
“Worth the price because I’ve tasted [worse] protein bars for more money,” Hao said.
“It is sort of chewy. Soft. Easy to eat… It was sweet and tasted like an actual S’Mores flavor,” Walter Ollivierre, who is the Head Coach of the Thomas A. Edison Boys Varsity Volleyball team, said.
Walter Ollivierre believes that for the price, it is a fairly priced bar, having a good amount of protein and an excellent amount of macros.
That said, not everyone was a big fan of the bar; the ratings varied at some points.
“I wouldn’t eat this bar again, because of the bad taste and large number of ingredients,” said Edison’s Wrestling Coach, Mr. Castillo. “It taste[s] like cardboard and medicine.”
Based on this rating, the review of the bar can vary depending on the person. As someone who focuses on muscle growth and development, he doesn’t approve of this protein bar. It can all be up to preference; however, he directly discredits it based on the ingredients involved, such as artificial sweeteners. This product contains maltitol, which is a sugar alcohol that is used as a sweetener, and sucralose, which is a synthetic artificial sweetener. This all ties in with why it was rated a 1 out of 5 stars.
“The texture felt like [I] was eating on erasers and clay, it was NOT enjoyable,” said Ashlyn Manboadh.
The majority of the ratings are on the higher spectrum, but some ratings show that this product isn’t perfect. As said by this student, the texture and overall experience of the bar weren’t enjoyable, which by itself is enough to steer them away from this product and is why they rated it a 2 out of 5 stars.
Overall, our research shows that the return of ONE’s S’mores protein bar was predominantly a success, but it also shows that protein bars have drawbacks despite their convenience and benefits.
