Low Carb Protein bars (part 2)

In my previous post I explained a bit about low carb & sugar alcohols, plus I tested 4 protein bars. The most common sugar alcohol used is maltitol, and after I published that post, I realized I needed to investigate this a bit more. To quote the Wikipedia page on maltitol:

"Maltitol is a sugar alcohol (a polyol) used as a sugar substitute. It has 75-90% of the sweetness of sucrose (table sugar) and nearly identical properties, except for browning. It is used to replace table sugar because it has fewer calories, does not promote tooth decay, and has a somewhat lesser effect on blood glucose."

Ok, that last part got me thinking. Somewhat lesser. So, does that mean it is almost the same a sugar? You get my point. Maltitol is not a sugar, so products that only contain maltitol as a sweetener can be called sugar-free (thank you marketing) but it is a carb and behaves as such as well. 
Where i'm getting to is, that most low-carb products contain maltitol, and in my humble opinion, that makes the the claim low-carb pretty useless.
Nevertheless, is does have a lower GI than sugar (albeit a small difference) and fewer calories (again, small difference) Perhaps "lower-carb" would be a better description.

Now, onward with my quest to sample and rate them, and possibly even find the perfect low-carb protein bar (I feel an award coming on!)

OhYeah Bars, Almond Fudge Brownie
taste: 5
(P) 30g, (C) 27g = 9% (S) 8g, (SA) 13g
SA types: maltitol
I think this was one of the first low-carb bars I've tasted, and it is still a favorite. Reminds me a bit of the Titan bar, so a bit crumbly. VERY tasty though.

OhYeah Protein Wafer Bars, Chocolate Chocolate
taste: 4 (a bit dry)
(P) 14g, (C) 8g = 3% (S) 2g, (SA) -g
SA types: none

Wait, no sugar alcohols and only 2g of sugar? Yes, this actually looks pretty good. But....
Let's have a look at the label.
Total carbohydrates is indeed 8g, of which 2 are fibers 
and 2 are sugars. That leaves the question, where are
the other 4?
General assumption in this case is, that the missing amount of carbs is starch. Starch is usually not mentioned on the food label, so apparently it then also doesn't "count" on the nutrition label. Starch is made of long glucose strands, and generally rises blood glucose in the same way as sugar does.
I wanted to point this out in this particular case, since it's more apparent that some carbs were missing, but this generally is the case with most protein bars. Again, be aware of this.

Why am I so picky about this? Well, simply because you have to be, since labels, packaging, claims, etc. tell you a different story. Personally I think it's a shame we have to investigate labels before we can make actual proper choices.

Met-Rx Protein Plus Food Bars, Chocolate Fudge Deluxe
taste: 4,5
(P) 32g, (C) 33g = 11% (S) 3g, (SA) 25g
SA types: maltitol syrup, maltitol
A bit more chewy than the Mud Pie Fusion, but it give you quite a full feeling for a longer period of time. After looking at the label a bit more closely (and looking up what they were) this bar however does contain 7 different kinds of carbs:
- maltitol syrup (GI 52)
- maltitol (GI 52)
- dextrose (GI 100)
- glycerin (GI 0?)
- fructooligosaccharides (GI 0?)
- sucralose (GI ?)
- maltodextrin (GI 105)

The world of carbs is complicated, and as longs as labels keep promoting to good in order to mask the bad, we have to keep investigating ;-)