Nakd Raw Fruit, Oat & Nut Wholefood Bars

Any product with a name such as ‘Nakd’ is bound to get noticed. For native English speakers, it's instinctive to pronouce it 'Naked'. Whether this is correct I've no idea. But since there's an accent on the ‘a’, maybe it's something like 'Narked' perhaps. Or how about 'Nakked' (as in packed)?

I've noticed Nakd bars before and knew they were healthy and wholesome. However, I’ve never bought them because the calories were a bit too high for my liking (they were bigger bars). If I’m going to buy cereal bars, I tend to go for those which are at, or near the 100 calorie mark.

These Nakd bars caught my attention for two reasons. First they were stuck on the end of an aisle in Tesco – a premium position for grocery goods, and second – they had the magic number ‘100’ calories on the front of the pack.

Two varieties on display in boxes were: Cocoa Loco and Berry Cheeky which both have 100 calories. Other varieties are Banana Bread with 92 calories and Apple Pie with 98 calories.

Tempting as they sounded, at £2.29 for a pack of four, I had to limit my purchase to one box on this occasion. I went with the Cocoa Loco box and a single Nakd Apple Pie bar.

If you’re interested in health food, you'll find the labels on these bars make happy reading. There's no added sugar, no artificial ingredients and each bar counts towards one of your 5-a-day.

Here’s what you will find on the Cocoa Loco box:

‘Nakd yummy wholefoods smooshed together! Simply delicious, filling, substantial & real. 100% natural ingredients; one of your 5 a day; No added sugar; Wheat and Dairy free; naturally vegan; cold pressed-never baked; guilt-free goodness.’ 

The ingredients list is impressive too. Cocoa Loco bars are made with dates, oats, raisins, peanuts, apple juice concentrate, cocoa, almonds, walnuts and a hint of natural flavouring. And that’s it! Nothing to be concerned about here.

But what does it taste like? A lovely chocolate smell is instantly recognisable once the wrapper is open. Initially though, it’s a bit difficult to work out the flavours. The lingering taste is dates, and since they account for 37% of the ingredients, that’s probably why. It’s not particularly sweet either. The texture is soft, chewy and it is a substantially filling bar.

I wouldn’t say these bars would appeal to everyone, especially those who like a bit of a crunch to their snacks. Personally, I loved them. They definitely have that ‘wholefoods’ raw sort of taste. And when I’m eating something with healthy ingredients such as these, I just feel better about eating them.

Passing pieces around to friends and family the responses were quite varied. One adult thought it tasted a bit ‘musty’, one child spat it out, saying the chocolate was bitter. But another child said it was ‘nice’ and it tasted like chocolate, nuts and fruit, while another said it was delicious.

The Apple Pie bar was the preferred bar out of the two. The only real difference with the Apple Bar ingredients is the addition of apples and the omission of cocoa. It's still just as chewy and filling but with more of an apple flavour.

I'd say these bars will appeal to anyone who likes snacking on things like nuts, seeds and dried fruit or who wants something healthy and reasonably substantial to keep them going until the next meal.

Nakd Apple Pie, Raw Fruit, Oat and Nut Bar

Nakd bars are found in most supermarkets and many health food shops, but not all stores stock the same varieties. They're sold in boxes of 4 x 30g individually wrapped bars or as single bars.

Nutrition Information per 30g Cocoa Loco bar:100 calories, 2g protein, 17g carbohydrates, 3g fat.