Sugar alias hall of shame
19 protein bars hide sugar behind 3 or more different ingredient names. This makes sugar harder to spot on labels.
Myprotein Crispy Square Marshmallow uses 6 different names for sugar
Sugar, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, dextrose, fructose, and honey — all in a 30g product.
Top 5 worst offenders
Myprotein Crispy Square Marshmallow
19g sugar per 100g
Graze Cherry Bakewell Oat Boosts
13g sugar per 100g
Nature Valley Protein Salted Caramel (4x40g)
16.1g sugar per 100g
Graze Peanut Butter Oat Boosts
Eat Natural Peanuts & Dark Chocolate
24.9g sugar per 100g
Want to learn how to spot every hidden sugar name? See the full guide to sugar aliases →
Highest sugar bars
The 10 highest-sugar protein bars at Tesco — some contain more sugar per 100g than a bowl of cereal:
1. Trek Protein Flapjack Cocoa Oat
2 sugar aliases
2. TREK Cocoa Oat Flapjacks Multipack
2 sugar aliases
3. Eat Natural Peanuts & Dark Chocolate
4 sugar aliases
4. Trek Lotus Biscoff Flapjacks
2 sugar aliases
5. TREK White Choc & Raspberry Flapjacks
2 sugar aliases
Trek and Eat Natural dominate the highest-sugar list despite marketing as protein and health bars.
Lowest sugar bars
At the other end, these bars deliver protein with minimal sugar:
1. Grenade Dark Chocolate Mint
2. Misfits Caramel Fudge
3. Misfits Brownie Batter
4. Misfits Cookie Butter
5. Grenade Oreo
Grenade and Misfits consistently deliver under 2g sugar per 100g — using sweeteners like sucralose and maltitol instead. This keeps sugar low but means they're ultra-processed (NOVA 4).
Low sugar doesn't mean unprocessed
Every bar in the lowest-sugar top 10 is NOVA 4 ultra-processed. The sugar is replaced with artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols.
GI scores
We matched glycemic index data for 68 of the 70 protein bars:
Highest estimated GI
Grenade White Chocolate Cookie bars
GI 78 (High)
Grenade Oreo White
GI 70 (High)
Trek Lotus Biscoff
GI 67 (Medium)
Lowest estimated GI
Myprotein Crispy Wafer Vanilla
GI 5 (Low)
Eat Natural Peanuts & Dark Chocolate
GI 13 (Low)
Eat Natural Maple Syrup Pecans & Peanuts
GI 13 (Low)
58 out of 68 GI-matched products have low GI (≤55). Most protein bars have moderate glucose impact — but the cookie-flavoured Grenade bars spike blood sugar as fast as white bread.
Want to understand what GI means for your health? Read our glycemic index guide →
Brands by average sugar
| Brand | Avg sugar / 100g |
|---|---|
| Misfits | 1.4g |
| Grenade | 2.2g |
| Barebells | 2.6g |
| Fulfil | 2.7g |
| TRIBE | 17g |
| Eat Natural | 19.2g |
| TREK | 20.5g |
| Kellogg's | 23.5g |
Get the full sugar rankings for all 70 protein bars
Every product ranked by sugar content, with alias breakdowns, GI scores, and brand analysis.
What can you do?
SpikeSaver is a Chrome extension that analyses every product on Tesco.com — flagging sugar aliases, total sugar content, GI scores, and more — so you can make informed choices without decoding every ingredient list.
Want to check a specific product right now? Try the Hidden Sugar Checker →
If you want to make better choices every time you shop, start using SpikeSaver while you shop →
Know someone who checks sugar on protein bar labels?