For those of us who are always on the go, a quick KIND Bar is a favorite option. They’re seemingly healthy and easy to throw into any bag for a quick pick-me-up. Unfortunately for us, the FDA has found that KIND Bars might not be as healthy as they claim.
According to Bloomberg Business, the Food and Drug Administration has found that at least four of KIND LLC’s so-called healthy bars were in violation of “healthy” labeling requirements. The four bars, Fruit & Nut Almond & Apricot, Fruit & Nut Almond & Coconut, KIND Plus Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein, and KIND Plus Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants, were advertised a “healthy” claim on their food label, without meeting the requirements for the use of this nutrient content claim.
William Correll, director of the Center of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, wrote a warning letter to the DIND company stating that multiple health-related claims from advertising did not meet FDA-approved standards. The bars under fire were found to contain between 2.5 and 5 grams of saturated fat content, which exceeds the FDA enforced limit of only 1 gram.
Additionally, the KIND Bars in question were found to not contain enough protein in order to use the term “plus” to describe the KIND Plus Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein bar. Labeling used on the bars, such as “good source of fiber” and “no trans fats,” were also found to be incorrectly used.
CNBC reports that a company spokesperson has extended a statement on behalf of KIND that can be found on their website. Their response to the FDA claims states:
“[O]ur team at KIND is fully committed to working alongside the FDA, and we’re moving quickly to comply with its request. We’re also taking it upon ourselves to conduct a thorough review of all of our snack food labels and website information to ensure that they’re compliant.”
KIND’s compliance to the FDA’s complaints is definitely a good sign for those of us who love the snack bars. With a newfound transparency, it’ll allow all of us snackers to have a better understanding of the healthy, grab-and-go snacks.
