Zoot Foods Healthy Snack Bars Review

Zoot Foods was founded a few years ago when a group of friends realised there was no off-the-shelf snack bar with no nasty surprises at a reasonable price. They decided to get to work creating their own range with no added sugar, salt, or fat and thus Zoot Foods was born! I was lucky enough to be able to try their exciting bars and give my verdict.

Zoot Zero Range

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my box from Zoot and found some chocolate bars in there! Usually, health food brands stick to fruit and nut bars as they are naturally healthier, however Zoot specialise in no added sugar chocolate bars and I couldn't wait to try them.

The chocolate bars are part of the ZOOT ZERO range, a premium-tasting chocolate range featuring four bars: Smooth Dark, Zesty Orange, Creamy Milk, and Hint of Mint.  All bars are twin packs featuring 2 x 20g bars giving you the healthy option of eating one and saving one for later!  

Zoot utilise the increasingly popular sugar alternatives Stevia and Maltitol meaning the ZOOT ZERO range of chocolate has all the taste of premium chocolate with fewer calories. Stevia, a natural sweetener derived from the Stevia Rebaudiana plant, is grown in Paraguay and Brazil and does not affect blood sugar levels (unlike artificial sweeteners). Maltitol is also a sugar substitute with 75-90% of the sweetness of sugar. Created from hydrogenating maltose, a natural sugar created from corn starch, and with a little over half the calories of sugar, it does not have the same blood sugar impact as refined sugar and both Stevia and Maltitol do not cause tooth decay. 

The bars are suitable for vegetarians as well as being gluten free for our coeliac friends. With only 0.9g of sugar per bar I was seriously impressed at how healthy this chocolate bar really is. So, how about the taste? Well, upon discovering that the natural mint extract from Black Mitcham peppermint used in ZOOT ZERO Hint of Mint chocolate is from Summerdown Mint in Hampshire and has been developed by Sir Michael Coleman from the Coleman mustard empire I was pretty impressed! I don't usually like dark chocolate, but I absolutely loved this bar. The mint flavour floats in the background while the chocolate melts in your mouth. Knowing that there's less than 1g of sugar in this bar makes it a totally guilt-free treat!

The milk chocolate bar is actually quite sweet thanks to the sweeteners and the texture is reminscent of advent calendar chocolate. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is for you to decide!

Zoot Natural Range

The ZOOT NATURAL range of fruit, nut, and seed bars are made with a blend of dates, sultanas, and currants with the distinctive flavour of each bar provided by the inclusion of a variety of nuts and seeds. All ZOOT NATURAL bars are dairy free, a source of protein, and 3 of the 4 bars have a high fibre content. The ZOOT NATURAL bars are also vegan and gluten free meaning they are suitable for a wide range of people. Each bar also boasts an average of 5g of protein which is very good for a bar that doesn't claim to be 'high protein'. 

ZOOT ZERO and ZOOT NATURAL are both free from added sugar and are certified ‘free from added sugar’ by Sugarwise (the new kite mark showing that products have been independently assessed and guaranteed to be low in free sugars.

Verdict

I'm really impressed by the Zoot brand and their chocolate bars will now be my go-to when I have a chocolate craving! It's a 10/10 from me.