An ABC news report declared nutrition bars as nothing more than "glorified candy bars." It's now 4:15, I'm hungry and dinner isn't until 8:30 tonight. Should I have a Luna bar in my new favorite flavor - S'mores - or get a Snickers® bar instead? Let's compare.

	Snickers® (2.7 oz)	S'mores by Luna (1.7 oz)
Calories	280	180
Fat (g)	14	4.5
Sugar (g)	30	12
Protein (g)	4	10
Fiber (g)	1	2
Vitamin A (% DV)	0%	25%
Vitamin C	0%	100%
Iron	2%	35%
Calcium	4%	35%

Snickers is a registered trademark of Mars, Inc.

I'm a big Snickers fan, don't get me wrong. But as far as healthful choices go, the Luna bar gives you less sugar, less fat, more protein and far more vitamins and minerals. I'm going with the Luna, news reports be damned.

Yes, quite a few nutrition bars aren't much different from a typical candy bar; and yes, those bars are slyly marketed as healthy choices. But others can give you convenient, balanced nutrition when food isn't readily available, as well as help you boost your protein, vitamin and mineral intake. The key is matching your activities and goals to the right kind of bar - and there are many. We used 41 different bars in our taste test, and those were just the ones within a 325-calorie limit and testing only one flavor per bar! With a little instruction on label decoding and an idea of what kind of product matches various activities, you'll be able to determine the best formulation for you among the bars listed on Chart Smart.

What are your goals?