Vegan shoppers comparing fat
If you want a vegan bar with less fat, compare the finished product’s nutrition panel. Plant-based ingredients, low-sugar wording and a protein figure do not tell you its total fat content.
Who is this comparison for?
Shoppers carrying a protein snack
A bar for a commute or after activity may need to provide a particular amount of protein. The three selected bars list 15g, 16g and 21g per bar, but their weights and fat figures differ too.
Vegan shoppers avoiding allergens
Vegan suitability and allergen suitability are separate checks. Read the ingredients and precautionary statements for the exact flavour if milk, peanuts, nuts, sesame or gluten are relevant to you.
What should you compare?
Start with the amount you would eat in one bar, then use the per-100g panel to compare bars of different sizes. Keep protein, other nutrition figures and allergen information alongside fat when deciding which product fits your needs.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Fat | Compare total and saturated fat per bar, then total fat per 100g. Tesco Groceries, Myprotein and PhD list 6.7g per 50g, 9.6g per 60g and 13g per 64g bar respectively. | I want to compare the fat in the whole bar I would eat, without mistaking the lowest figure among these three for a reduced-fat claim. |
| Protein and size | Read protein alongside serving weight: the same three listings give 15g per 50g, 16g per 60g and 21g per 64g bar respectively. A larger protein figure does not settle the fat comparison. | For a portable snack, I want to know how much protein one bar provides and whether its size suits the occasion. |
| Other nutrition | Check sugars, fibre and sweeteners for the exact flavour. Myprotein lists 10g fibre and 1.4g sugars per 60g Vegan Carb Crusher bar; those figures do not describe the other bars. | Fibre or sugar content may matter to my choice, but I do not want to use either figure as a shortcut for judging fat. |
| Vegan and allergen labels | Check vegan suitability, direct ingredients and any ‘may contain’ statement on the current pack. GOV.UK guidance explains that vegan food can be made where animal-origin allergens are present. | If I need to avoid a particular allergen, I need a label that addresses it; ‘vegan’ alone does not answer that question. |
What can be easy to overlook?
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Reading ‘reduced-fat cocoa powder’ as a claim about the bar
Tesco Groceries lists reduced-fat cocoa powder among the Misfits Caramel Fudge ingredients, but the finished 50g bar still has its own declared fat figure of 6.7g.
Use the finished bar’s total-fat and saturated-fat rows. Compare per-100g figures when serving sizes differ; an ingredient description does not establish a claim about the whole bar.
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Choosing by protein alone
In the three selected listings, the bar with 21g protein also has 13g fat per bar, while the bar with 15g protein has 6.7g fat per bar. PhD and Tesco Groceries list different bar weights for those products.
Decide how much protein you want from one snack, then compare fat and bar size on the same labels before choosing.
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Assuming vegan means free from allergens
GOV.UK guidance notes that vegan food may be prepared where allergens or animal-origin ingredients are present. The selected bars have ingredient or precautionary allergen information that matters independently of their vegan labels.
Read the current pack for the exact flavour. If you need to avoid an allergen, check that any specific free-from claim covers that allergen.
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Buying several bars before checking the ingredients
Some of the selected bars contain sweeteners. Tesco Groceries also carries an excessive-consumption warning for Misfits Caramel Fudge.
Check the sweetener information and pack warning for the flavour you intend to buy, particularly before choosing a multipack.
Brand and range references
A brand may sell both vegan and non-vegan bars, so use its range name as a starting point and check the individual product label.
Myprotein
Myprotein UK lists several vegan snack bars, including Vegan Carb Crusher, Pea-Nut Bar and Peanut Butter Protein Bar.
- Vegan Carb Crusher lists 16g protein, 10g fibre and 9.6g fat per 60g bar.
- Check the exact flavour’s ingredients and allergen statements; the Vegan Carb Crusher information includes wheat and soya and a precautionary statement for milk, peanuts and nuts.
PhD
PhD lists Smart Plant Salted Caramel as a vegan bar.
- Its nutrition panel lists 21g protein per 64g bar.
- The same bar lists 13g fat. Its ingredients include soya and peanut paste, with precautionary statements for sulphites, sesame seeds and nuts.
Misfits
Tesco Groceries lists Misfits Caramel Fudge as a vegan, plant-based 50g bar.
- Tesco lists 6.7g fat and 15g protein per bar.
- Tesco lists possible gluten-containing cereals, milk, nuts and peanuts, and advises checking the label because food information can change.
Grenade
Check Grenade bars individually rather than treating its standard protein-bar range as vegan.
- Grenade describes its Cookie Dough Protein Bar as coated in milk chocolate. Its information about certified vegetarian products does not establish that this bar is vegan.
Barebells
Barebells distinguishes its vegan range from its Original and Soft bars.
- Barebells states that its vegan range provides 15g plant protein per serving.
- Barebells says Original and Soft bars contain bovine collagen hydrolysate and are not vegan. Check the particular product’s UK label and nutrition panel when shopping.
A Joybuy snack option
This Nakd multipack is a vegan snack-bar option for shoppers considering portable bars. Check its pack details before comparing it directly with the three protein bars discussed above.
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Nakd Peanut Delight 4 x 35g
A vegan-described peanut snack-bar multipack for a portable option. The listing also gives nutrition for a different bar weight and mentions another flavour, so check the pack’s flavour, bar size and nutrition before comparing fat or protein. Contains peanuts; read the current allergen statement for other ingredients and precautionary warnings.
Common questions
Does vegan mean a protein bar is reduced fat?
No. Vegan labelling concerns animal-origin ingredients, not the bar’s fat content. GOV.UK guidance says nutrition claims are subject to rules; compare the finished product’s declared fat per bar and per 100g rather than treating its vegan label or an ingredient description as a reduced-fat claim.
Which of the three selected vegan protein bars has the least fat per bar?
Tesco Groceries lists 6.7g fat per 50g Misfits Caramel Fudge bar, compared with Myprotein’s 9.6g per 60g Vegan Carb Crusher bar and PhD’s 13g per 64g Smart Plant Salted Caramel bar. That ordering compares these three products only, not every vegan bar sold in the UK.
Why compare fat per 100g as well as per bar?
Per-bar figures show the amount in one whole serving, while per-100g figures put different bar sizes on the same weight basis. The three selected protein bars weigh 50g, 60g and 64g, so both views help you understand the comparison.
Is a vegan bar suitable if I need to avoid milk or another allergen?
A vegan label alone does not establish that. GOV.UK guidance says vegan food can be prepared where allergens are present; check the exact pack’s ingredients, precautionary statements and any specific free-from claim for the allergen you need to avoid.
Does a low sugar figure settle which bar to buy?
No. Sugar, fat, protein, serving size and allergen information answer different questions. Check the exact flavour’s full nutrition panel and ingredients; sweetener information and any pack warnings may also matter to your choice.