Choose a gym-bag bar by the specific ingredient or allergen you need to avoid, not by a broad ‘free from’ claim. Nature Valley Protein Salted Caramel Nut and TREK Original Oat offer gluten-free protein-bar routes, while nākd. fruit-and-nut bars offer a vegan, gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free route; their ingredients and precautionary warnings differ. Check the current pack for your exact requirement, particularly if you need to avoid nuts, milk or soya.
Nature Valley Protein Salted Caramel Nut and TREK Original Oat are described by their makers as gluten-free, but their other allergen declarations differ. Check the exact bar if you also avoid milk, soya, peanuts or tree nuts.
nākd. describes its fruit-and-nut bars as vegan and dairy-free. TREK describes Original Oat as vegan but also gives a ‘may contain milk’ warning. The distinction matters when dairy avoidance is an allergy requirement rather than a preference about ingredients.
Read the current ingredient list and any precautionary warning for the allergen you avoid. The Food Standards Agency explains that ‘may contain’ wording signals possible unintended allergen presence, which is separate from an ingredient deliberately included in the recipe.
Start with allergen suitability, then compare the type of bar and its stated amount per serving.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Specific allergens | Read the current ingredients and ‘may contain’ statement. Check each allergen separately; a gluten-free claim does not establish milk-, soya- or nut-free status. | I need the declaration for the particular allergen I avoid, rather than a general free-from label. |
| Protein per bar | Compare the stated grams of protein alongside bar size. Nature Valley UK states around 10g per 40g Salted Caramel Nut bar; TREK states 10g per 50g Original Oat bar; Eat Natural UK states 8g per 40g Peanuts, Almonds & Cocoa bar. | If protein content is why I am buying a bar, I want to compare individual portions without overlooking their ingredients. |
| Vegan and dairy-free suitability | Check both the recipe and precautionary wording. Nature Valley Salted Caramel Nut contains milk ingredients; TREK Original Oat is vegan but may contain milk, according to the respective manufacturers. | A vegan recipe may meet my ingredient preference, while a milk warning still matters if I need to avoid milk as an allergen. |
| Bag storage | Check the pack’s storage instructions, best-before date and portion size before leaving bars in a gym bag. | For a snack I carry with me, I want a portion I can use while following its storage instructions. |
Nature Valley UK describes Protein Salted Caramel Nut as gluten-free, yet lists peanuts, almonds, soya and milk in its ingredients.
Match every allergen you avoid against the current pack’s full declaration, not just its front-of-pack claim.
The Food Standards Agency explains that precautionary wording communicates possible unintended allergen presence, even when the allergen is not a recipe ingredient.
If the warning names an allergen you must avoid, do not disregard it because that allergen is absent from the ingredient list.
nākd. describes its fruit-and-nut bars as vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free. Those claims do not remove the nuts used in individual recipes.
Check the particular flavour’s nut ingredients and precautionary statement separately from its vegan status.
Manufacturer-stated protein amounts differ between exact bars and portion sizes: TREK Original Oat lists 10g per 50g bar, while Eat Natural Peanuts, Almonds & Cocoa lists 8g per 40g bar.
Compare the amount per bar you would eat, together with that bar’s allergen declaration.
TREK describes its Original Oat Protein Flapjack as a gluten-free, vegan bar with 10g plant protein per 50g bar.
Nature Valley UK describes Protein Salted Caramel Nut as gluten-free, with around 10g protein and around 4g fibre per 40g bar.
nākd. describes its fruit-and-nut bars as vegan and gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free.
Eat Natural UK describes its Peanuts, Almonds & Cocoa Protein Bar as gluten-free, with 8g protein per 40g bar.
Graze describes its snacks as vegetarian and says that most of its range is vegan.
Alpen’s FAQ states that all its products contain gluten from wheat, barley or oats.
These bars cover protein flapjacks, a gluten-free protein-bar option and fruit-and-oat or fruit-and-nut snacks for a gym bag. Check each exact pack against your dietary requirements; a claim for one flavour does not establish the ingredients of another.
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A cocoa-and-oat flapjack to consider if you want a portioned gym-bag bar. Its product information identifies soya as an allergen; check this flavour’s current pack for its gluten-free and vegan claims and any ‘may contain’ warning rather than applying declarations from TREK Original Oat.
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For a gluten-free protein-bar route if peanuts, almonds, soya and milk are suitable for you. Nature Valley UK states around 10g protein and around 4g fibre per 40g bar; it also warns that the bar may contain other tree nuts.
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An apple, raisin and cinnamon oat-bar option if you prefer that style of snack to a protein bar. Check the current pack for the gluten-free or vegan claim you need and for its precautionary allergen statement.
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A fruit-and-nut choice for shoppers comparing gluten-free and dairy-free bars. The Joybuy product information identifies dates, raisins, cashews and almonds, and lists a precautionary warning for nuts, peanuts and soya. Check the current pack if vegan status is also essential to your choice.
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A cashew-and-blueberry fruit-and-nut bar rather than the Eat Natural protein bar discussed above. Its product information identifies milk, cashews, almonds and honey, so it does not fit a dairy-free or vegan requirement. Check this exact pack for any gluten-free claim you need.
No. Nature Valley UK describes Protein Salted Caramel Nut as gluten-free, but lists peanuts, almonds, soya and milk. Check the current pack for every allergen you need to avoid.
No, not when the warning names an allergen you must avoid. The Food Standards Agency explains that precautionary labelling communicates possible unintended allergen presence, which is different from deliberately adding it to a recipe.
nākd. describes its fruit-and-nut bars as vegan and gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free. Check the exact flavour’s ingredients and warnings too, particularly if you avoid nuts.
Not on the basis of Alpen’s FAQ, which states that all its products contain gluten from wheat, barley or oats. If you require a gluten-free bar, choose one whose exact current pack confirms that claim.