OK - so I bought these bars called '3 Carb Protein Bar Sugar Free!' also marked 'Nutrition Zone Products Inc' and 'BioX'. There is a website listed on the back www.nutrition-zone.com but I haven't been there, and they are distributed out of North Van.

I bought 1 or 2 (total 6) of each flavour I found:

Smores
Raspberry Truffle
Banana Nut
Peanut Butter Fudge

Each bar has about 200 cal, 20 - 21g of protein, 4 g of fat, and 22-23g carbs, but 19 - 20g of the carbs are glycerine and/or maltitol so the 'net impact' is supposedly between 2 and 3g. If you use the 'hidden carb calculator method' desribed elsewhere on the site, these clearly fail the test... (But I'm still giving them a try. The Atkins bars say they're OK for induction and their composition is similar I think, so I'm giving these guys a shot.)

The 'Impact Carb' count on each was less than 3g, in fact - pretty close to 2g on the label.

I had the Raspberry Truffle yesterday - it actually wasn't that bad. Very chewy / nougatty, overly sweet for my taste, EXTREMELY filling - rolled around in my belly like a lump of indigestible chemicals for that gap between lunch & dinner - a little odd, but at least I felt kind of satisfied - not hungry. The raspberry taste is clearly artifical, but not unpleasant. I'd eat that one again. I don't think there is any danger I'd ever buy one as a 'cheat' or a 'treat' tho.

This morning I had the 'Smores' which was icky. I'd pass on that one personally. Can't really describe it other than a marshmallow as tough as an old rubber boot and about as flavorful, dipped in some weird fake choclatey goop. However, equally filling and hunger-suppressing in a weird, 'ball of lead in your gut' kind of way.

Price (Bought at a Health Food shop at Surrey Centre Mall) was $2.99 each with no tax if you buy minimum 6, and they offer discounts by the box.

I read some of the threads about the dangers of eating these products, and so far my results aren't that great (but I bought these 6 so I'm going to eat 'em). I appear to have gained back a pound overnight (water retention is a potential symptom of eating stuff containing sugar alcohols like maltitol, but one pound here or there isn't really proof I'm going to have a problem.) Haven't noticed any laxative effect (unfortunate, really) or gassiness (not unfortunate.) I think I'm still in ketosis - still tasting pennies in the back of my mouth, (I don't have the testing sticks) so I don't think the bars have had that serious an effect on me... yet...

So far - I'm skeptical, but desperate for a quick handy snack I can keep in my office desk for those 'between meal' recharges. (And I know I'm going to get a flood of suggestions like cheese & salami, small salads etc... but that really won't work in my office environment.)

-PatekPhil