General Mills has come out with a new way to eat its popular Chex Mix — bars. They are being promoted as a “crunchy, chewy, calorie-conscious snack that packs indulgence into every bite, yet has less than 150 calories.” With at least 8 grams of whole grain per serving, combined with pretzels, nuts, chocolate and caramel, it sounds like a great idea. I personally love sweet and salty combinations, and Chex is one of my favorite cereals. But I think General Mills needs to go back to the drawing board. The bars taste like mushy cereal soaked in too much sugar syrup. The combination of grains and syrup might be pleasing to a horse raised on oats and molasses, but I simply didn’t like the texture or the taste. To be fair, I also tried them out on five fellow reporters. Only one had any kind of positive feedback and that comment was that the bars were “OK.” The overall consensus, however, was that we would rather eat Chex as a cereal or bagged snack.

The bottom line: If you must have a snack bar, this is not the one — unless it’s for your horse. One box retails for $3.19 and contains six bars.

Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at sylviaanderson@npgco.com.