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
1Kirkland Signature Protein BarKirkland Signature Protein Bar4 flavoursvaries by flavour22g17012.9g2g11g
2Built PuffBuilt Puff13 flavoursvaries by flavour17g14012.1g7g0g
3Quest BarQuest Bar11 flavours20g17011.8g≤1g15g
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4Built Sour PuffBuilt Sour Puff5 flavours16g15010.7g8g0g
5No Cow Protein BarNo Cow Protein Bar9 flavours20g19010.5g≤1g14g
6Pure Protein BarPure Protein BarCookies & Cream20g19010.5g4g4g
7Atkins High Protein BarAtkins High Protein Bar6 flavoursvaries by flavour17g1908.9g≤1g9g
8Atkins Strong High Protein BarAtkins Strong High Protein BarChocolate Chip Cookie Dough20g2308.7g≤1g8g
9KIND Protein Max BarKIND Protein Max Bar4 flavours20g2408.3g≤1g9g
10MET-Rx Big 100 BarMET-Rx Big 100 Bar2 flavours32g4107.8g25g2g

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.

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.

More rankings

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