Granola Bars Without Palm Oil | List of Palm Oil Free Bars

Read ingredient labels to find protein, nutrition, snack and granola bars without palm oil. Snack bars with dates are often palm oil free because the dates bind them together. Palm oil enables bars to be “Chewy.”

In addition to watching for palm oil and palm kernel oil, many of them contain palm oil derivatives. 

Choose bars WITHOUT Glycerin, Glycerine, Tocopherols, and Vitamin E (to maintain freshness) on labels. They are usually made from palm oil. Natural Flavors can contain palm oil.

Avoid these types of granola bars:

• Chewy
• Filled
• Coated
• Soft-Baked
• Layered

Remember, the less ingredients something has, the less likely it contains palm oil. Don’t be swayed by packaging.

Pay particular attention to companies who come out with new flavors. These bars often contain palm oil ingredients.

After cross-referencing their ingredients against hundreds of names of palm oil derivatives, we believe these nutrition bars and granola bars do not have palm oil ingredients.

However, we do not warrant that the ingredient, sourcing, allergen, and product information is accurate or complete. Our information comes from product manufacturers. Choose products that are certified Palm Oil Free from the International Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark (POFCAP) or the Orangutan Alliance. 

We continue to contact the companies to confirm and update when we hear back from them.

Granola Bars without Palm Oil

Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars

What’s great about Nature Valley: These are the only on this list of palm oil free granola bars that are truly granola bars.

Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars do not list palm oil in the ingredients. Nor do they contain Glycerin, Mono- & Diglycerides, and Tocopherols as many granola bars do. In snack bars, cereals, candy, and many other foods, these are often made from palm oil.

They have many flavors of crunchy granola bars. Read what I wrote about Nature Valley Granola Bars to see the complete list of palm oil free granola bars. 

My son, who gets sick from palm oil, regularly enjoys the Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Granola Bars and their Oats ‘n Honey Granola Bars.

• Oats ‘N Dark Chocolate 
• Oats ‘N Honey 
• Maple Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Apple Crisp

RXBAR

What’s great about RXBAR:  They use dates to bind their ingredients instead of palm oil like other companies do. They list their ingredients on the front of each package.

RXBAR confirms these bars are made without palm oil.

In this day and age when most companies use palm oil and palm oil derivatives, it is amazing RXBAR does not. All of their products are palm oil-free, including all of their new flavors. We hope they will promote this on their packaging and on their website. 

RXBAR Protein Bars’ flavors:

• Banana Chocolate Walnut
• Blueberry
• Chocolate Chip
• Chocolate Sea Salt
• Coconut Chocolate 
• Gingerbread (seasonal)
• Mint Chocolate
• Mixed Berry
• Peanut Butter
• Peanut Butter Chocolate
• Pumpkin Spice (seasonal)
• Strawberry 
• Vanilla Almond

RXBAR past flavors include: Apple Cinnamon, Coffee Chocolate, Mango Pineapple, Maple Sea Salt, Chocolate Hazelnut, and Peanut Butter & Berries

RXBAR AM Bars’ flavors:

• Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate
• Chocolate
• Honey Cinnamon Peanut Butter
• Blueberry

Please note: I do not know the source of Natural Flavors in RXBAR AM bars. I believe them to be made without palm oil; however, without them being Certified Palm Oil Free, I do not know for certain.

It’s super easy to make homemade date bars and customize with whatever dried fruits and nuts you have. Dates add a natural sweetener to baked goods. They work well in making bars because dates add consistency and hold the bars together.

Larabar 

What’s great about Larabar: Look for these bars when you go shopping for bars. Larabar products are available at many retailers, including grocery stores, Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and more.

They offer so many bars and snack products and have managed to make them without palm oil ingredients. They use dates as a binding agent instead of relying on palm oil ingredients.

Larabar

• Peanut Butter & Jelly
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
• Gingerbread
• Almond Butter Chocolate Chip
• Almond Cookie
• Apple Pie
• Banana Bread
• Banana Chocolate Chip
• Blueberry Muffin
• Carrot Cake
• Chocolate Hazelnut Swirl
• Cashew Cookie
• Cherry Pie
• Chocolate Chip Brownie
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
• Cinnamon Raisin Cookie
• Cinnamon Roll
• Cocoa Coconut Chew
• Many more!

Larabar Kids

• Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Cinnamon Swirl
• Chocolate Brownie

Big Spoon Roasters

What’s great about Big Spoon Roasters: They advertise Palm Free on their website. (Wouldn’t it be great if they would certify their products palm oil free!) The ingredients on their labeling do not include palm oil derivatives. In addition to making nut butter bars, they make palm oil free nut butters as well. 

Big Spoon Roasters Peanut Butter Bars

• Apricot Pepita 
• Cherry Chocolate 
• Cranberry Cashew 
• Figgy Chai 

Big Spoon Roasters Nut Butter Bars

• Apple Ginger Almond Butter Bar
• Lemon Blueberry Cashew Butter Bar

KIND Snacks KIND Bars

KIND used to have many flavors without palm oil. Most all of them have been discontinued which is truly disappointing.

From what I’ve seen, most all of their chocolate and/or peanut butter bars contain palm oil ingredients or palm oil derivatives.

These bars seem to be made without palm oil. On a personal note, my local Target sells KIND Cranberry Almond, and I buy them often. My son and I love them.

These products below do not contain palm oil, palm kernel oil, glycerine, glycerol, tocopherols, vitamin E, or any ingredients derived from palm. I have noted the ones with natural flavors.

Be sure to read the ingredients to confirm you are buying KIND’s palm-free bars. It seems many of their new bars contain palm oil derivatives. Read labels!

Despite many emails over several months to follow up, I am waiting for confirmation from KIND to confirm the source of many of their ingredients. Because of this, I would not buy their bars with the above potential palm oil derivatives.

In granola and snack bars, these ingredients are most always from palm oil. I would consider it a safe bet that these are made from palm oil as well, especially when they use palm oil in so many of their other products.

KIND Nut Bars

• Cranberry Almond
• Almond & Coconut
• Madagascar Vanilla Almond
• Fruit & Nut
• Honey Roasted Nuts & Sea Salt
• Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt – Don’t know the source of the Natural Flavor
• Raspberry Cashew & Chia – Don’t know the source of the Natural Flavor

Simply Balanced Chewy Granola Bars

We have not yet heard back from Simply Balanced (Target brand) to confirm this flavor of granola bar is free from palm oil. We have checked the ingredients, and it seems these bars are made without palm oil.

(Note, my son has been able to eat this Apple Berry Flavored bar. However, read the label at the point of purchase — companies often change ingredients — to be sure the ingredients are palm free.)

• Apple Berry Flavored (Organic)

Enjoy Life Foods Crispy Grain & Seed Bars

VERY DISAPPOINTING NEWS: These seem to be discontinued. Thank you to the reader below who commented that they couldn’t find these bars.

What’s great about Enjoy Life Foods: They are the first company in the United States in the “Free From” category to earn Palm Oil Free Certification from the International Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark (POFCAP) for all four flavors of their Grain & Seed Bars.

Enjoy Life Foods also earned this important Palm Oil Free certification trademark for four flavors of their Protein Bites.

• Chocolate Marshmallow
• Banana Caramel
• Cranberry Orange
• Maple Sweet Potato

Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites

• Dark Raspberry
• Dipped Banana
• Sunseed Butter
• Cinnamon Spice

Clif Kid Organic Z Bar

VERY DISAPPOINTING NEWS: Before buying, check ingredients. Thanks to the reader who commented below, I just learned that Clif Kid Organic Z Bars now contain MIXED TOCOPHEROLS. This is a new ingredient addition to their Organic ZBars.

My family has bought these bars since 2010 – 2012… I can’t remember but it was whenever Costco started selling them in the large boxes. To see in the last year they have changed to what I believe are palm oil derivatives (in the form of Mixed Tocopherols) is very upsetting.

They have lost a decade-long loyal customer. I buy hundreds of these bars a year! (My child who doesn’t need to intentionally avoid palm oil eats them all the time.) If you see MIXED TOCOPHEROLS on the box, do not buy them.

Thanks to the reader who commented below.

• Caramel Chocolate
• Chocolate Brownie
• Chocolate Chip
• Iced Oatmeal Cookie
• Iced Lemon Cookie
• S’mores

 

What (was) great about Clif Kid Zbar: Clif Kid Zbar continues to make these bars with other ingredients besides palm oil.

My kids love them and have been eating them for over 10 years. We (used to) buy boxes of them every month.

It was great to see Clif made their new Clif Kid ZBar Caramel Chocolate bar without palm oil.

Anymore, it seems when companies make new products, they are resorting to using palm oil. Instead, this bar include organic fig paste and organic high oleic sunflower oil.

A Consumer Care Representative from Clif Bar & Company confirmed their bars above are free from palm oil.

Please note, their new “filled” bars and their kid’s line of “protein” bars DO contain palm oil as do most of this companies’ other products and bars.

To the best of our knowledge, the bars above are the only ones Clif makes without palm oil. We are awaiting comment from Clif Bar & Company.

Van’s Foods

• Gluten Free Cranberry Almond Snack Bars

I used to buy these all the time but they have been discontinued. Now Van’s just carries frozen waffles and pancakes.

How to Find Granola Bars without Palm Oil

Choose snack bars with dates. Choose crunchy bars over chewy bars. Avoid coated bars and bars with lots of ingredients.

Palm oil ingredients go by hundreds of names which often makes them difficult to avoid and eliminate.

However, there are the easy ingredients to spot, those with the word “palm” in it, including:

• Palm oil
• Palm kernel oil
• Vegetable oil (palm)
• Vitamin A Palmitate 

However, there are derivatives which are often made with palm oil which are more difficult to know to look for. Unless the company lists the source, you won’t know unless you contact them.

In granola and other bars, these ingredients most often contain palm oil.

• Glycerin
• Glycerine 
• Glycerol: This ingredient is usually made with palm, sometimes soybean
• Natural Flavors
• Tocopherols: This ingredient can be used as a synthetic Vitamin E supplement or to preserve freshness in foods like granola or fruit bars, cereals, ice cream, and baked goods.
• Vegetable oil:  Sometimes it will be listed as “Vegetable oil (palm)” and sometimes it will be just listed as generic “Vegetable oil.”
• Vitamin E: Sometimes companies will add: To Maintain Freshness. Regardless, Vitamin E often equals palm oil.

Watch for Natural Flavors in snack bars

One major snack bar company told us the Natural Flavors in their Brownie bar contains Glycerin and that the Glycerin is sourced from palm oil.

Most of their other bars contain Glycerin spelled out separately as an ingredient (also made from palm oil).

Homemade granola bars without palm oil

If you want to ensure you are not using palm oil ingredients, you can make bars yourself. See my recipe for homemade vegan bars with pure maple syrup. You can use honey as well (non-vegan option). It’s easy to mix in dried fruit, like raisins and cranberries. If you enjoy nuts, you can add these in along with palm-free chocolate chips, etc.

However, sometimes, we need a fast and easy, grab-and-go snack, which is why it’s great when we can buy snack bars without palm oil.

Granola bars are an easy go-to snack

Granola bars aren’t perishable so they are the perfect snack to put in a lunch bag or to send as a snack to school. They are great for road trips and for outings, really anywhere you need to send a snack. Many consumers enjoy them for a palm oil free breakfast.

Granola, nutrition, fruit and protein bars without palm oil ingredients

Always read labels. Know there are hundreds of alternate names for palm oil ingredients. Please do your best to support these companies and products so they can remain palm-free.

Learn ways to use less palm oil each week to decrease overall demand.

If you get sick from palm oil or you are avoiding palm oil for environmental reasons, you know how difficult it is to find granola bars without palm oil.

Nutrition and granola bars without palm oil ingredients

It’s difficult to find palm-free foods in the dessert and processed foods categories. That’s why we really consider it a big win when we find packaged foods without palm ingredients that we know we can eat safely. 

We’ve found some items along the way which make it easier to avoid palm oil. Learn how to find products without palm oil.

See our lists of snacks without palm oil and cookies without palm oil.

As always, please support companies and brands who don’t use any palm oil ingredients and the hundreds of names they go by.

You know how difficult it is to find protein bars and other bars without palm oil and related palm ingredients.

Please, if you know of other nutrition bars and granola bars without palm oil, help us all by listing them in the Comments. We’ll add them to this list. Thank you!

We are not medical professionals. This is not medical advice. Please consult with your physician. The information is based on our own Internet research and reading labels to compare ingredients against the hundreds of names for palm oil derivatives.

Use this list as a starting point; it is not guaranteed unless the bars are certified Palm Oil Free.

We reached out to each of these companies, specifically asking them about each product and asking questions to confirm ingredients. Read labels.

Thank you for being proactive and for read labels. By choosing palm oil-free bars, we will be making a difference.