Clif Bars May Contain a Neurotoxin

When most folks reach for a nutrition bar, they assume they're getting something that's, well, nutritious. Protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants might be some of the items you'd expect to find in snacks like Clif, Luna, Mojo, and Odwalla bars. But if consumers reach for any of these bars or those from several other brands, they're in for a surprise ingredient — hexane, a dangerous neurotoxin.

You may remember media coverage several months ago of hexane turning up in frozen veggie burgers. According to the Cornucopia Institute, a family-farming advocate, the same situation is playing out with nutrition bars, putting consumers' health in jeopardy.

Hexane is actually a byproduct of gasoline manufacturing. It's also earned itself the dubious reputation of being a neurotoxin and air pollutant. "Noxious" is a good word to sum up the stuff's properties. But despite hexane's obvious dangers to human health, the chemical is regularly used by soybean processors as a solvent. Soaking soybeans in hexane separates the beans' oil from the protein, allowing nutrition bar and other food producers to pump their products full of soy nourishment.

The use of hexane in nutrition bars is bad enough, but what's worse is that many bars' producers use misleading labels like "all-natural" and "made with organic ingredients." Consumers reach for a Clif, Luna, Mojo, Odwalla, Balance, or Zone Perfect Bar thinking that they're purchasing a healthy, eco-friendly product. In reality, they're stocking up on snacks that may make them sick.

Certified organic nutrition bars can't use hexane-derived soy in their products. If you're looking for a safe choice, bars boasting the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) certified organic seal are generally good choices. As for bars like Clif, Luna, Genisoy, Greens Plus, 365 Super Greens, NuGo, and others, they continue to use hexane-derived soy while advertising "all-natural" and "organic" ingredients. To find out which bars are a healthy choice and which come loaded with hexane, check out the Cornucopia Institute's nutrition bar guide.

There's no reason any food producer should be using a dangerous neurotoxin like hexane. Clif produces Clif, Luna, Mojo, and Builder's bars, all of which likely use hexane-extracted soy ingredients, according to the Cornucopia Institute. Clif claims to care about the health of families, communities, and the planet. Sign our petition, and tell the company that if it really cares about our health, it should immediately stop using hexane-extracted ingredients in its nutrition bars.

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Photo credit: flickrich via Flickr