Protein bars can be a quick and convenient meal when you’re pressed for time, and you need to keep yourself going between meals.
However, finding vegan protein bars is not particularly easy since most brands include dairy ingredients and honey.
This leads to the question; are One protein bars vegan? Unfortunately, most One protein bars are not suitable for vegans because they contain dairy, however, One also has a line of protein bars called One Plant that is completely vegan, and it includes flavors such as banana nut bread, chocolate peanut butter, and more.
One Protein Bars & Ingredients
One Brands is behind the creation of One protein bars, and they tend to focus on indulgent flavors such as pumpkin pie, birthday cake, and blueberry cobbler.
For instance, the blueberry cobbler flavor contains the following ingredients:
While the ingredients may change slightly with a different flavor, the main ingredients remain the same, namely the protein blend that is largely milk-based.
To show you this does not change, regardless of the flavor, allow me to list the different flavors and their major animal components:
| Flavors: | Main Ingredients: |
| Birthday Cake | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
| Butter Pecan | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
| Chocolate Brownie | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
| Cinnamon Roll | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
| Maple Glazed Doughnut | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
| Peanut Butter | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
| Pumpkin Pie | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
| S’Mores | Milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate |
This is the case with most protein bars on the market— the first ingredient is always a protein blend devised with milk proteins, namely whey protein.
One Plant Protein Bars & Ingredients
One Plant is a different line of protein bars that One Brands devised to cater to the plant-based market, and so they have avoided animal ingredients
According to their Amazon listing, One Plant protein bars come in four different flavors: banana nut bread, carrot cake, chocolate peanut butter, and churro.
These are the ingredients present in a chocolate peanut butter bar:
As you can see, none of the ingredients derives from animal sources, and One Plant protein bars are also labeled as “vegan”, so there should be no doubts there.
It’s important to mention, however, that these bars are produced in the same facility as the original One bars, which means they are manufactured on the same equipment that processes milk.
If this is something that you don’t agree with, or you perhaps happen to be allergic to dairy (or any other allergen), then I’m afraid One Plant protein bars are not the best option for you.
One Brands Is Owned By Hershey
Back in 2019, Hershey bought One Brands for $397 Million, adding yet another brand to their large portfolio, allowing them to enter the market of “morning and on-the-go nutrition” products.
The issue with Hershey is that they’re known for chocolates such as Twizzlers, Kit Kat, Reese’s, and of course, the Hershey’s Milk Chocolates.
This essentially means that they profit off animal suffering since the largest majority of their products contain animal ingredients, namely milk. This is something that vegans might not be very fond of, and some might even choose to not consume products from companies with such a footprint.
In my opinion, this is up to personal choice, but there are also some good arguments in favor of consuming vegan products sold by these companies.
Feel free to watch the video above to know why it could be a good idea to consume vegan products from companies like Nestlé, Hershey, or others.
Summary
One Brands’ original protein bars are not vegan as they primarily contain milk protein. However, One Brands also has a line of protein bars that is completely vegan called One Plant.
One Plant protein bars’ primary component is a protein blend made with ingredients such as pea protein, rice protein, defatted peanut flour, and almond protein.
There are no animal ingredients used in this product and it’s aptly labeled as being “vegan”.
Therefore, if you’re vegan and happen to enjoy One Brands’ products, feel free to go for their One Plant line, however, keep in mind that their vegan products are manufactured in the same facility as non-vegan products, so there is potential for cross-contamination.
If you’re allergic to dairy, this is not a product that you will want to consume, as it could be dangerous to your health, depending on the gravity of your allergy.
