Eat Natural Fruit and Nut Bars

I can think of a lot of reasons for eating an Eat Natural bar - you need a quick burst of energy after sport (or running around after the kids), you want a snack that's healthier than chocolate, you want your kids to eat something healthy for breakfast in the 30 seconds that remain before the school run begins, to help notch up your 5-a-day fruit and vegetable portions ... or just because they taste so nice !

I was sent two packets to try out, firstly Dark 70% chocolate brazils and apricots. To quote the website : "It's a lovely, exotic mix of deep, intensive 70% cocoa chocolate, from Santo Domingo, enveloping delicious tropical ingredients. It's as popular and inviting as a fortnight on a Caribbean beach." And secondly, Cherries, almonds and a yoghurt coating. Again, in their own words, "Our lovely new recipe with…cranberries, apricots and a yoghurt coating is a truly unique snack…the only fruit and nut bar on the market…with no nuts! However, it's bursting with 60% fruit and it'll easily count as one of your 5-a-day."

My first thought when biting into a bar was that the taste and texture were totally different to any other cereal bars I'd tried, but from reading the label, that's because these aren't "cereal" bars, they're "fruit and nut"bars. And you can't argue with that - they have huge pieces of fruit and whole nuts to get your teeth into. Therefore, they taste natural and fresh, because you're biting into and filling your mouth with recognisable sized pieces of fruit and nut, not just an amalgamated mish-mash of minutely crushed ingredients that probably got swept off the factory floor ! They're packed with flavour and the chocolate or yoghurt coating makes them seem very indulgent so it's not just a health bar ! The fruit pieces are lovely and juicy and chewy and the big nuts are crunchy. It's like eating a bag of dried fruit and nuts but in a handy bar form so you can munch on the go or keep it in your handbag withour risking all the little bits falling out in the bottom ! I love the fact that they contain no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives, just "loads of good wholesome stuff" as they say on the box.

There are loads of other varieities available, containing different blends of fruit, nuts and seeds. If you don't like nuts (or you've got false teeth and can't cope with them !), you might prefer the Lunchies bars that are aimed at kids - they contain only fruit, no nuts. And unlike the "adult" bars, they come in packs of five, which is perfect for doing a week's worth of lunchboxes - see, they don't just make cracking snack bars, they're clever and mum-minded too !

I see on their website that they have also created Eat Natural ... for breakfast (either in "cereal" pack or bar form) and Eat Natural ... for nibbling (little bags of healthy bits to graze on in front of the telly). I might have to try them out next time, I bet a bag of the nibbles stuff would be gorgeous added into the bread machine with the basic bread mix. Yummm !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : 75p for one bar or £1.95 for a pack of three

for more info, see : http://www.eatnatural.co.uk/