Bar Market Continues to Expand, Evolve with Added Functional Benefits
Popular Form— Plus Function: Bar formats have multiplied from the single dough of the 1980s to today’s new offerings with more visual and textural interest
In 1962, NASA launched space capsule Aurora 7 into orbit with a brand-new type of sustenance for astronaut Scott Carpenter: space food sticks, a “non-frozen balanced energy snack in rod form containing nutritionally balanced amounts of carbohydrate, fat and protein.”
Developed jointly with a team of food scientists at Pillsbury, these extruded snacks later became a staple of the 1973 Skylab 3 mission, during which the crew was instructed to eat these bars every third day during the 60- to 85-day mission.