The Protein Bar Report
"Protein bar" is an unregulated marketing term — there's no minimum protein, no sugar ceiling, nothing a product has to clear to print the word on the wrapper. So we graded 26 bars against their USDA labels and ranked them by the one number that actually says how much of a bar is protein: protein per 100 calories. The spread is enormous.
The short answer
Across 26 bars, protein-per-100-calorie runs from about 1.6 g to 12.1 g (median 5.8 g), and sugar from 0 g to 28.9 g per serving. That's not a category — it's two different foods wearing the same label. At the top are genuine high-protein, low-sugar bars where nearly half the calories are protein. At the bottom are candy bars with a protein dusting: 42% of the bars we graded carry 10 g of sugar or more in a single serving. The honest metric is protein-per-calorie. If most of a bar's calories come from sugar and fat, the word "protein" on the front is doing marketing work, not nutrition work.
Highest protein per calorie
The bars that earn the name — most of their calories are actually protein. Ranked by grams of protein per 100 calories.
| Bar | Protein / 100 cal | Sugar | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built Coconut Puff Protein Bar | 12.1 g | 7 g | B |
| Pure Protein Chocolate Deluxe Bar | 11.7 g | 3 g | B+ |
| Premier Protein High Protein Bar — Dark Chocolate Mint | 10.7 g | 10 g | B- |
| Quest Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bar | 10.5 g | 1 g | B+ |
| Premier Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter High Protein Bar | 10.3 g | 8 g | B- |
| Barebells Caramel Cashew Protein Bar | 10 g | 1 g | B+ |
| Pure Protein Birthday Cake Bar | 10 g | 3 g | B- |
| Think! Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar, Brownie Crunch | 8.7 g | 0 g | B |
| EAS Pure Milk Protein Bar Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough | 7.9 g | 9 g | B |
| EAS AdvantEdge Pure Milk Protein Bar, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough | 7.9 g | 9 g | B |
Candy in disguise
The other end of the shelf: "protein," "energy," and "granola" bars where protein is an afterthought and sugar or fat carries the calories. Ranked by lowest protein per calorie.
| Bar | Protein / 100 cal | Sugar | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature Valley Crunchy Oats 'n Honey Granola Bars | 1.6 g | 11 g | C |
| Larabar Cashew Cookie Fruit & Nut Bar | 1.7 g | 16 g | B |
| Larabar Cherry Pie Fruit & Nut Bar | 2 g | 20 g | B |
| Clif Bar Clif Kit's Organic Dark Chocolate Almond Coconut Fruit + Nut Bar | 2.1 g | 15 g | C+ |
| Kind Fruit & Nut Delight Bar | 3 g | 9 g | B |
| Atkins Endulge Caramel Nut Chew Bar | 3.8 g | 1 g | B |
| GoMacro Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip MacroBar | 3.8 g | 14 g | B |
| Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie (Chocolate Chip) | 3.8 g | 12 g | B- |
| KIND Crunchy Peanut Butter Protein Bar | 4.8 g | 8 g | B- |
| Nature Valley, Protein Chewy Bars, Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate | 5.3 g | 6 g | C+ |
The most sugar in a protein bar
Sugar per serving, highest first. Several of these out-sugar a standard candy bar.
| Bar | Sugar | Protein / 100 cal | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatorade Recover Whey Protein Bar Chocolate Chip 2.8 Ounce Plastic Bag | 28.9 g | 5.7 g | C- |
| Larabar Cherry Pie Fruit & Nut Bar | 20 g | 2 g | B |
| Vega Sport Protein Bar, Chocolate Coconut | 19 g | 6 g | B- |
| Larabar Cashew Cookie Fruit & Nut Bar | 16 g | 1.7 g | B |
| Clif Bar Clif Kit's Organic Dark Chocolate Almond Coconut Fruit + Nut Bar | 15 g | 2.1 g | C+ |
| GoMacro Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip MacroBar | 14 g | 3.8 g | B |
| RXBAR Chocolate Chip Protein Bar | 13 g | 5.5 g | B |
| Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie (Chocolate Chip) | 12 g | 3.8 g | B- |
| Nature Valley Crunchy Oats 'n Honey Granola Bars | 11 g | 1.6 g | C |
| Premier Protein High Protein Bar — Dark Chocolate Mint | 10 g | 10.7 g | B- |
How we measured it
We pulled every graded bar in the catalog — anything whose category is a bar ("Snack, Energy & Granola Bars" and the like) or whose name carries a standalone "bar," excluding pure candy and chocolate bars — and kept the 26 with real macros (calories, protein, and sugar reported). Protein per 100 calories is grams of protein divided by calories, times 100: the share of a bar that's actually protein, which is why it exposes "candy in disguise" that a raw protein-per-serving number hides. Sugar and saturated fat are per the USDA serving on each label. Every figure is computed live from the product pages, so the numbers never drift from the underlying grades. Full method: labelgrade.com/methodology. Pairs with our catalog-wide protein-per-calorie study and the added-sugar report.
Cite this analysis
Free to cite with attribution to Labelgrade (labelgrade.com). Writers covering protein bars, sports nutrition, or food marketing are welcome to use the figures above — please link to this page. For a custom cut, reach us via the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are protein bars healthy?
It depends entirely on the bar — that's the whole finding. Across the 26 bars we graded, protein-per-100-calorie ranges from about 1.6 g to 12.1 g (median 5.8 g), and sugar runs from 0 g to 28.9 g per serving. Some are genuinely excellent: high-protein, low-sugar, food you can defend. Many others are candy bars with a protein dusting — 42% carry 10 g of sugar or more in a single bar. "Protein bar" is a marketing phrase, not a nutrition standard, so the only honest answer is to read the actual label.
What's the healthiest protein bar we graded?
By protein-per-calorie — the metric that says how much of a bar is actually protein — the leader is Built Coconut Puff Protein Bar at 12.1 g of protein per 100 calories (17 g protein, 7 g sugar, 140 cal), grading a Labelgrade B. It tops the list because nearly half its calories come from protein and almost none from sugar. "Healthiest" still depends on your priorities — if you avoid artificial sweeteners, a whole-food date bar may suit you better even at a lower protein-per-calorie — but for pure protein efficiency, this is the one.
How much sugar is in protein bars?
Anywhere from 0 g to 28.9 g per bar — a range wide enough that the category average is almost meaningless. The worst offender we graded is Gatorade Recover Whey Protein Bar Chocolate Chip 2.8 Ounce Plastic Bag at 28.9 g of sugar in a single serving (361 cal), which is more sugar than many actual candy bars. At the other end, several engineered bars come in at 0–1 g by leaning on sugar alcohols and isolate. The word "protein" on the wrapper tells you nothing about the sugar behind it.
Is a protein bar just a candy bar?
Some are. 42% of the bars we graded carry 10 g or more of sugar in one serving — and the lowest-protein-per-calorie bars on our list deliver as little as 1.6 g of protein per 100 calories, meaning the overwhelming majority of what you're eating is sugar and fat, not protein. The honest test is protein-per-calorie: a real protein bar earns the name (the top of our list clears 12.1 g per 100 cal); a candy bar in disguise doesn't. The label says "protein"; the math says dessert.
Can I cite this analysis?
Yes — free to cite with attribution to Labelgrade (labelgrade.com). Every bar links to a full fact sheet with the ingredient panel and the six-dimension grade.