An FYI to Alternative Product Users...

On August 1, Quest changed the formula for all their bars to use soluble corn fiber (yuck!!) They are touting this change as a positive one because now bars will “stay soft longer and withstand heat better”. This is NOT a positive change for any IP followers as now ALL BARS EXCEPT Lemon Pie are OVER 30% calories for fat, the cut-off for alternative products and NO LONGER FIT IP PROTOCOL for alternative use!! (This only appears to affect the bars, not other Quest products.)

There are a lot of alternative users who are writing to Quest to lodge their complaints. I do not personally use Quest, but know so many IP alternative followers do. This is what I wrote, though it is best for each person to write their own words:

"There are THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of us who follow low carb LOW fat eating plans and make Quest bars part of this plan. With the recent increase in FAT CONTENT in your Quest Bars, THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of us will now need to STOP USING QUEST BARS!! Oh MY!!!!!!!!! Why was it necessary to increase the amount of fat in your bars?? Those who eat low carb/high fat would STILL eat them as they can add higher amounts of fat in so many other places during the day, but those of us who follow the lower fat eating can no longer use them, and believe me, our on-line communities are buzzing with real disappointment in this change!!"


Please feel free to do your own research and come to your own conclusions!

Just today I was checking the nutritional content of the Quest brownie bars I ordered online last week, and saw the fat percentage was way up -- 80 of the total 190 calories are fat!!! That is more than 40 percent! Very disturbing..... I have loved being able to bake the bars into little cookies. I too will voice my concerns to the Quest company.

thanks for sharing this, JLUS!!!

That really sucks but thanks for the heads up. I got a box of Cookies and Cream from Wegmans about 3 weeks ago and am guessing they were manufactured in June / July (exp. 6/2016) because they still fit protocol.
I am going to go back tomorrow and if they were manufactured in June / July, spend $60 for 3 boxes - 2 C&C and 1 Cinnamon Roll. I generally only eat 2 /3 a week so 36 should be enough to get me through to goal.

I will also send my displeasure to Quest! At least offer options...something tells me this is a $$$ saving move

This is very bad news. Even in Maintenance I eat at least 5 Quest Bars a week as they were my go to snack. I'm very unhappy about this. But as with the way with most food manufacturers, profit always wins out over nutrition. I'll just have to find something else that works if I'm doing a reboot and watch my fat grams more closely when I'm using them in Maintenance. I can't stomach those Lemon bars. They taste like soap.

There is a brand available now at health food stores called "Think Thin" - their high protein 20 g bars have pretty good macros - I'm not sure about for P1 but for maintenance they have been fine for me.

I'm going to try to stock up today at GNC if they've got any of the old version left. I'm live chat messaged them a moment ago saying how disappointed I am & why. They linked me to a site on their webpage showing how beneficial the corn fibre is in our gut. I messaged back that 92% of corn in the US is GMO with insecticide built in (2015 numbers from the USDA) http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-product...-adoption.aspx

We'll see what comes of that.

Edit to print her answer:
"We appreciated you sharing this information. I verified from our director that the soluble corn fiber we use is non gmo."
(although that still doesn't help us with the fat ratio)

It will be interesting to watch and see how quickly my Wegmans stock of Quest bars dwindles. I went ahead and purchased 3 boxes, making sure the macros were still IP friendly- then peeked through the display and was pleasantly pleased that it looks like all of them were stocked in June 2015 (exp 6/2016)

I am willing to make an offer to folks if you want to PM me: I go to Wegmans every weekend and can keep checking to see if IP friendly bars are available in the flavor(s) of your choice and could ship them...total cost would probably be about $30 - $24.95 a box + shipping. It would be through PayPal.
Again, if interested, PM me

Eta - I am not looking to make a $0.01 off this and would be willing to take pictures / send receipts. Just trying to help fellow IP'ers if I can

I also stopped off at GNC to pick up 3 boxes of choc brownie quest bars that are the original formulation, and I found 4 singles that I could get on the buy 3 get one free deal that GNC always has for Quest bars.

I live near a couple of other GNC's and will check them out for more of the lower fat version... I may try the Fairfax Wegmans too, since you found some at your store, Beth.

It is very kind of you to offer to buy for others -- I'll try to support that effort should you get many takers. Lemme know, and I'll scout for supply, too. We live close enough to one another that I can connect up with you to consolidate product and help pack up to ship.

Thanks Cheryl - I work in Tysons / close to FFX so yeah, that would definitely be do able I also believe I pay corporate rate on shipping as they get discount on volume...but I'm not sure if it extends to private residence.

JLUS thanks for the heads-up, I had no idea but I had thought the last several I bought tasted different, and not better.

Oh dear! Thanks for the heads-up. I just wrote a comment to their Customer Support. Maybe if enough people write in (and indicate how often you buy their bars) we can have an impact.

Looked these up since hubby eats Quest bars, and I've been thinking about trying now that I'm in maintenance. The stats look pretty good, and most of their products are gluten free.

I also thought this was an interesting read - http://www.breakfastcriminals.com/wh...rs-quest-bars/

I haven't tried the Thinkthin bars mentioned but I did read they made the list of 5 worst rated bars because of the use of cheaper ingredients. No personal experience with them though.

The new quest bars (80% fat from cals) taste terrible IMHO. I noticed it before I read on here that there had been a change. I mostly buy the chocolate chip cookie dough, now they have almost a licorice taste. I'm looking for an alternative if anyone has a suggestion.

Headed to gnc in the morning, I normally buy mine in Amazon, but I wonder what their packaging date is?

Have you looked at the HealthSmart bars at Nashua Nutrition? I love the rockie road ones (they really do taste great) and the mint chocolate one is good, too. Hubby swears by the peanut butter one, as well.