Food Fight: LUNA Carrot Cake vs. ZombieFoodBar

We’ve done a protein bar Food Fight before, and we’re doing one again! This time it’s the down and dirty battle of LUNA Carrot Cake (the brand’s newest flavor) versus a newcomer on the snack-bar scene, ZombieFoodBar. We’ve been fans of LUNA bar before, and something with word “Zombie” in it? Well, we certainly had to try that.

Taste and Texture

LUNA Carrot Cake: We’re not exactly sure how they did it, but LUNA nailed carrot cake’s rich and somewhat spicy flavor. A little crunchy yet somewhat chewy and less dense than we expected, it’s very sweet, but has that addictive taste of cinnamon, walnuts, raisins and carrot (you can even see tiny little bits of carrots) and is topped with a creamy sweet vanilla icing. This definitely tastes more like a dessert than a nutrition bar. Pretty sure it gave us a sugar high.
ZombieFoodBar: The folks at ZombieFoodBar claim that this bar “tastes better than brains.” Which, really we’re not sure if A) that’s saying much, B) we are really qualified to see if that statement is true or not, as we’ve not yet had brains, and C) we’re not zombies. That aside, we like the flavor. Definitely more like a protein bar than a dessert, it’s kind of like if Vega One Bar and a Larabar had a baby, made it less sweet and decided to declare it Zombie food. Just a touch crumbly, it’s also pretty dense and has a slightly fruity and nutty flavor that’s mixed with dark chocolate. We’d eat this every day of the week. No sugar high.
Winner: Man, this is tough. If you want your protein bar to taste like dessert, Carrot Cake is clearly the winner — and it’s pretty amazing the taste they’ve created in a bar. But, seeing that we’re not big on super-sweet protein bars (more of a sometimes snack, than an everyday one), we’d probably prefer to eat the ZombieFoodBar more often than not. That said, LUNA Carrot Cake is winning this one. Because if we were on a deserted island with just one bar to eat and these were our choices? We’d go LUNA Carrot Cake. (Solid hypothetical reasoning, right?)

Nutritional Facts

LUNA Carrot Cake: Each LUNA Carrot Cake bar has 180 calories, 8 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber, along with key vitamins and minerals, like calcium, iron, vitamin D and folic acid. Each bar also has 6 grams of fat and 13 grams of sugar.
ZombieFoodBar: Zombie or not (hopefully not), one of these bars has 250 calories, 12 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, along with a little vitamin C, calcium and iron. One ZombieFoodBar contains 14 grams of fat and 11 grams of sugar.
Winner: Honestly, we’re surprised that the LUNA Carrot Cake only had 2 more grams of sugar than the ZombieFoodBar (it tastes way sweeter than that!). And while ZombieFoodBar does have better fill-up-your-tummy power with its extra healthy fats and protein, it does come at a higher calorie count. But like we’ve said before, a calorie is more than just a calorie. So in this case, we declare ZombieFoodBar the winner! It was a close one though …

Ingredient List

LUNA Carrot Cake: With 70 percent organic ingredients, the ingredient list isn’t short for this one. It’s mostly made of words you know and love like rolled oats, carrots, sea, salt and cinnamon, but it also has its far share of different oils and sugar/syrups of all kinds. All ingredients are non-GMO and gluten-free (although not certified gluten-free), and the protein comes from soy.
ZombieFoodBar: Besides just being easier to read on the package than the LUNA Carrot Cake bar, the ZombieFoodBar is a little bit more friendly in the fit-foodie department. There’s chia seeds, a macro greens blend, nuts, agave nectar, rice protein, stevia and even chlorella powder. Lots of superfoods in the house! Made with “mostly organic ingredients,” these bars are vegetarian and gluten-free.
Winner: While we think LUNA Carrot Cake is pretty decent for a mainstream bar, ZombieFoodBar wins this one hands down! Too many superfoods and too clean of an ingredient list not to!

And the Food Fight Champion Is…

It was a close one, but ZombieFoodBar wins it! With its superfood ingredients, not-too-sweet taste and higher protein count, it’s the clear winner for us! (Although, if we get a hankering for carrot cake, we totally know what we’ll be grabbing!) Does this mean that we’re Zombies? We sure as heck hope not!
Have you tried either of these bars? Agree with our decision? Oh, and if you’re a Zombie, please tell us if ZombieFoodBar is really better than brains… —Jenn