The Indian food and supplement industry defaults to dairy proteins — because they're cheap waste from cheese-making. We default to peas — because that's what Indian guts can actually use.
You'll notice that most competitors don't publish this table. That's why we do.
| What you're checking | Simply Grain (pea) | Whey protein bars | Soy protein bars | Mass-market bars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dairy-free | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✗ Often not |
| Gut-safe for lactose-intolerant Indians | ✓ Fully | ✗ No | ✓ Generally | ✗ Variable |
| Zero chemical sweeteners | ✓ Yes | ✗ Usually no | ✗ Usually no | ✗ No |
| Natural sweetener (honey, dates, jaggery) | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Zero palm oil | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Made in India for Indian biology | ✓ Yes | ✗ Imported | ✗ Imported/adapted | ✓ Made here |
| Protein source quality | Pea isolate (complete AA) | Whey concentrate | Soy isolate | Soy flakes / whey blend |
| Protein per bar | 10g | 8–15g | 8–12g | 3–6g |
| Bloating risk for Indians | Very low | High | Moderate | High |
These are not scare tactics. These are documented facts from FSSAI, NDDB, and independent food safety labs.
The FSSAI National Milk Quality Survey found that 68.4% of milk samples tested across India failed safety standards — including starch, urea, and detergent residues added to simulate nutritional density.
Source: FSSAI National Milk Survey, 2023The global average for adult lactose intolerance is 65%. In South Asia, including India, the number is above 70%. This is normal human biology — most adult mammals stop producing lactase after infancy. Whey protein feeds a system that doesn't work.
Source: NIH, American Journal of Human GeneticsA survey of 46 protein bars available on major Indian e-commerce platforms found that 82% used whey as their primary protein source. This is despite the majority of their target buyers having documented difficulty digesting it.
Source: Simply Grain Product Research, 2024Dairy waste from cheese-making. Causes bloating in 70%+ of Indian consumers. We use pea protein isolate instead.
A sugar alcohol marketed as "sugar-free". Ferments in the colon and causes worse bloating than regular sugar.
A chlorinated artificial sweetener. Disrupts gut microbiome balance. Found in most "diet" and "no sugar" Indian protein bars.
The cheapest fat in the Indian food supply. Highly inflammatory, environmentally destructive. We use almond butter.
Cheap glucose-fructose syrup used in mass-market bars to add sweetness at almost zero cost. Strongly linked to insulin resistance.
Hexane-extracted soy protein concentrate — the industrial-grade soy used in cheap protein bars. We only consider cold-processed isolates.
No synthetic dyes. Our bars are the colour of their actual ingredients. That earthy-brown is oats and dates. That chocolate-black is actual dark chocolate.
No sodium benzoate, BHA, BHT, or TBHQ. Our shelf life comes from the natural antimicrobial properties of honey and the low water activity of the bar itself.