Even tastier? How bad were they before? (Weetabix Alpen Cereal Bars)

Member Name: Holidaying

Product:	Weetabix Alpen Cereal Bars
Date:	13/04/09 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Attractive appearance, price.

Disadvantages: Too sweet, freeze dried strawberries, can't taste the yoghurt.

Those that have read a few of my reviews (thank you :) ) will know that I am always trying new cereal bars and similar snack type products. On a recent trip to a Tesco superstore I was browsing the cereal aisle and at the end was a range of cereal bars so I thought I'd stop and have a look, as I often don't buy such products from superstores.

There was quite a range available but one that caught my eye was a box of Alpen bars. For clarification, I am reviewing a packet of five, not six as the description says, and the variety I have here is Strawberry & Yoghurt.

As I said, the box caught my eye, and it is not surprising because it is bright red! On the right hand side of the box the word Alpen is printed from the bottom to the top of the box (i.e. to read it you have to turn the box clockwise). There is a picture of one of the cereal bars on the box, with a few fresh strawberries around it and a grain, which I think from the ingredients is meant to be wheat. At the top of the box it states that the contents are 'even tastier' and have '30% more fruit'. I like the bright box, the picture on the front and the fact that it is not cluttered with words. I think that simple packaging like this is good because it makes clear what is in the box without ambiguity.

On the back of the box, the information to note is that there are now a total of six flavours, and there is a long list of ingredients, nutrition information and allergy advice. The product contains wheat, barley, oats, milk, soya and sulphites, and may contain traces of nuts.

I note that each bar is 29g and has a miniscule 121 Kcal! However, there are 10.3g of sugar in each bar but only 1.8g of saturated fat (of a total 3.1g of fat) and 0.03g of sodium. Overall I think this is not too bad but in my opinion the sugar content suggests that in part this has to be viewed as a treat and not just as a snack or a substitute for a healthy breakfast!

Inside the box are five bars which are individually wrapped in sealed packets. I assume that they have done this to keep the bars fresh and can confirm that the packaging does its job! The individual packets have the same style as the box. They're red, with Alpen written across them and a small picture on the left hand side where the manufacturers restate the flavour. The ingredients and allergy information is printed again on the individual packets.

The packet is easy to open and inside there is a medium sized bar of about four inches in length. It is just over one inch deep and about the same in width. I think the bar is very attractive as it has a yoghurt coated base and then has yoghurt drizzled over it in a zig zag pattern. You can see the light brown colour of the cereal and the bright red of the strawberries.

When I bite in to the bar the first thing I notice is the texture, which is a combination of smooth yoghurt and crunchy cereal. When I chew the bar I become aware of the texture of the strawberries. I don't like this texture because the strawberry feels very fake and seems to dissolve on my tongue, almost like a fruit pastille or other fizzy sweet. I thought the strawberries were freeze dried and a look at the ingredients list confirms this. However, there are not many strawberries in the bar and the pieces are very small so for me this is a good thing. If you like freeze dried strawberries, it is not a good thing!

The bar tastes very sweet and has a syrupy flavour to it. I think it is too sweet and would be better if it was less so. Interestingly, most of the sweet flavour seems to come from the cereal part of the bar, or, presumably from the glucose syrup and sugar that binds the cereal together, not from the strawberries.

The yoghurt does not seem to have a taste of its own and the layer on the bottom and zig zags on the top are so thin that this is not surprising.

At 29g the bar is surprisingly filling but I didn't enjoy the taste as much as other cereal bars so I won't be buying these again.

I paid £1.61 in Tesco and they are the same price in Asda.

The box is cardboard and is recyclable. I always recycle the packets as well, although I am not sure if you are supposed to! (We haven't had any problems.)

Thank you for reading!

Summary: I won't be buying these again.