Consumer New Zealand says many snack bars should not be considered everyday eating.
Consumer said only nine out of 35 snack bars rated well under the new voluntary health star-rating system introduced in June, in a recently-published report.
Packaged foods are rated from half a star to five stars, and Consumer said only four of the 35 snack bars tested got four stars or more.
The Quaker Nut Bar was the highest-rated bar with four and a half stars, as the consumer watchdog found it had less saturated fat, sugar and sodium, and contained a reasonable amount of fibre.
At the bottom of the table with just one star was Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bar, which was found to have high levels of saturated fat; more than a third of it is sugar; and it is low in fibre.