Chocolate Sea Salt RX Bars Compliant?

[JLollie]

I can't tell what the chocolate composition is.  Many list them as "yes" but I wanted to be certain.

[snowflower]

Some RX bars are technically compliant, but definitely not recommended unless it's an emergency.

[JLollie]

Is this bar compliant? 

[ShannonM816]

Yes.

However, if you find yourself eating them like dessert, craving them to the point of distraction, or coming up with reasons why you need to eat them instead of actual meals, you would really want to think about if they are a good choice for you.

This article talks a bit more about it:  https://whole30.com/2015/06/future/

[JLollie]

Nah, it's for my Whole30 emergency kit.  I don't really crave an energy bar on whole30 or not.  

[SchrodingersCat]

On 7/22/2018 at 8:20 AM, ShannonM816 said:

Yes.

However, if you find yourself eating them like dessert, craving them to the point of distraction, or coming up with reasons why you need to eat them instead of actual meals, you would really want to think about if they are a good choice for you.

This article talks a bit more about it:  https://whole30.com/2015/06/future/

I know this is a bit old, but I'm really at a loss as to how this sits against:

"Cacao (100%): Yes

Cacao (or 100% cocoa) is great when used as a savory spice (our Mocha Steak Rub, found in It Starts With Food, is a great example), but you can also feel free to add it to your coffee or tea, or brew it Crio Bru-style. But per the rules of the program, it’s not okay to add cocoa to dates and other fruits to make chocolate-y confections."

This bar is LITERALLY a mixture of cocoa and dates. I find that W30 (which I largely adore) can be very inconsistent when faced with a conflict in its commercial interests. 

It would never be ok for me to mix these ingredients at home, so why is it ok in this instance? 

 

[misskrissy27]

Was there ever any clarity on this? I don't see how this bar would be compliant just b/c of the ingredients. Chocolate & cocoa?

[ShannonM816]

On 7/30/2019 at 6:39 AM, SchrodingersCat said:

I know this is a bit old, but I'm really at a loss as to how this sits against:

"Cacao (100%): Yes

Cacao (or 100% cocoa) is great when used as a savory spice (our Mocha Steak Rub, found in It Starts With Food, is a great example), but you can also feel free to add it to your coffee or tea, or brew it Crio Bru-style. But per the rules of the program, it’s not okay to add cocoa to dates and other fruits to make chocolate-y confections."

This bar is LITERALLY a mixture of cocoa and dates. I find that W30 (which I largely adore) can be very inconsistent when faced with a conflict in its commercial interests. 

It would never be ok for me to mix these ingredients at home, so why is it ok in this instance? 

 

I'm guessing this is from the Can I Have list. The wording there has been updated, and now says this:

Quote

 

Cacao (100%): Yes

Cacao (or 100% cocoa) is great when used as a savory spice (our Mocha Steak Rub, found in It Starts With Food, is a great example), but you can also feel free to add it to your coffee or tea, or brew it Crio Bru-style. However, we highly discourage mixing cacao with dates, figs, or other fruits to make chocolate-y confections during your program. These only feed your Sugar Dragon, which is the opposite of what you want to do on a Whole30.

 

It's a subtle thing, but you'll notice it no longer says it's not allowed, and the rules don't specifically call out cocoa/cacao/chocolate, although they did used to mention the date-sweetened coffee creamers.

I know sometimes there are gray areas like this. I think this is because there is an expectation that people will take some personal responsibility in their Whole30, so instead of just saying no, you can never have this, saying we really encourage you not to have this, one, leaves it open that if that is absolutely the only thing that is remotely compliant available in a situation, you can have it and not feel like you've failed your Whole30, and also, so that people will hopefully really think about what they're eating.and why they're eating it, which is really important if you want to truly change your relationship with food. 

I will say that I don't think in this case it's motivated by money. RXBars are no longer part of the Whole30 approved program, and even items within the Whole30 approved program aren't all paying Whole30 or Melissa commissions on sales (you can check out the Whole30 Approved program here:  https://whole30.com/whole30-approved/). I might be wrong, but i just don't see how this monetarily benefits Whole30. 

[ShannonM816]

22 minutes ago, misskrissy27 said:

Was there ever any clarity on this? I don't see how this bar would be compliant just b/c of the ingredients. Chocolate & cocoa?

It is compliant, but not everything that is compliant is necessarily a thing that you should include in your Whole30. If you were stuck at the airport in the middle of the night, and the only compliant thing you could find was a chocolate RXBar, you could eat that and not have broken your Whole30. But, we do expect you to take some responsibility for your Whole30. If you have any kind of sugar dragon, any cravings for sweets or chocolate, if you feel a meal isn't complete until you've had a bit of something sweet, if you have a tendency to eat bars every day at lunch rather than eating real food -- these are things you should be addressing in your Whole30. That means RXBars or Larabars or siilar items are  probably not a thing you should eat regularly. They're probably not even something you should buy and keep as emergency food, if you have any other options, unless you are absolutely certain that you will not suddenly find yourself plagued by "emergencies" that cause you to eat them.  And the chocolate is part of that, but honestly, even the non-chocolate options are basically like candy bars.