Protein Bars Without Maltitol
Maltitol is the sugar alcohol most often blamed for protein bar stomach trouble: it has roughly half the calories of sugar, but a well documented laxative effect in the quantities bars use. We checked the verbatim ingredient statement of every bar in our database. The bars below contain no maltitol, ranked by protein per 100 calories. (Some contain other, generally better tolerated sweeteners; each entry’s product page lists exactly which.)
Rankings recompute automatically as new verified products are added. Tap a column to sort; product lines with multiple flavours show their best scoring flavour.
| # | Product | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kirkland Signature Protein Bar4 flavoursvaries by flavour | 22g | 170 | 12.9g | 2g | 10g |
| 2 |  Built Puff12 flavoursvaries by flavour | 17g | 140 | 12.1g | 7g | 0g |
| 3 |  Quest Bar11 flavours | 20g | 170 | 11.8g | ≤1g | 15g |
| 4 |  Built Sour Puff5 flavours | 16g | 150 | 10.7g | 8g | 0g |
| 5 |  No Cow Protein Bar9 flavours | 20g | 190 | 10.5g | ≤1g | 14g |
| 6 |  Pure Protein BarCookies & Cream | 20g | 190 | 10.5g | 4g | 4g |
| 7 |  Atkins High Protein Bar6 flavoursvaries by flavour | 17g | 190 | 8.9g | ≤1g | 9g |
| 8 |  Atkins Strong High Protein BarChocolate Chip Cookie Dough | 20g | 230 | 8.7g | ≤1g | 8g |
| 9 |  KIND Protein Max Bar4 flavours | 20g | 240 | 8.3g | ≤1g | 9g |
| 10 |  MET-Rx Big 100 Bar2 flavours | 32g | 410 | 7.8g | 25g | 2g |
Bars that DO contain maltitol
These product lines list maltitol (or maltitol syrup) on their ingredient statement. That is not a safety judgment; it is simply what the label says.
- Barebells Protein BarMaltitol · 18 flavours checked
- David Protein BarMaltitol · 12 flavours checked
- Elevation Protein BarMaltitol · 2 flavours checked
- FitCrunch Protein BarMaltitol, Sorbitol · 10 flavours checked
- Fulfil Vitamin & Protein BarMaltitol · 7 flavours checked
- Grenade Protein BarMaltitol, Xylitol · 4 flavours checked
- MET-Rx Big 100 BarMaltitol · 4 flavours checked
- ONE Protein BarMaltitol · 10 flavours checked
- Pure Protein BarMaltitol, Erythritol · 14 flavours checked
- think! High Protein BarMaltitol, Erythritol · 12 flavours checked
- think! Layered Protein BarMaltitol
How this ranking works
- Every nutrition value is transcribed from the manufacturer’s published nutrition label and verified by hand, with no third party food databases.
- Product lines are ranked, not individual flavours, so one product’s 20 flavours can’t fill the list. Each entry shows its best scoring flavour.
- A maximum of two lines per brand keeps the list diverse.
- Labels that don’t state sugar or fiber are treated as unknown (never as zero) and are excluded from sugar and fiber rankings.
- Want to hit a daily protein target? The Protein Pal app lets you scan any label and track your protein day by day.
Frequently asked questions
- Which popular protein bars contain maltitol?
- In our current database the David bar lines list maltitol on every flavour we have verified, and several other lines use maltitol syrup. The full, automatically updated list is in the “bars that do contain maltitol” section above.
- Why is maltitol used so much?
- It is cheap, tastes and bakes remarkably like sugar, and lets a bar print a low sugar number. The catch is tolerance: EFSA reviewed evidence links polyols like maltitol to laxative effects at higher intakes, which is why many people search for bars without it.
- Is erythritol better than maltitol?
- They are both sugar alcohols, but erythritol is mostly absorbed in the small intestine and excreted unchanged, so it generally causes fewer gastrointestinal symptoms than maltitol, which ferments in the colon. If you want to avoid all sugar alcohols, see our bars-without-sugar-alcohols ranking.
