The FDA Would Love It If Kind Bars Could Stop Pretending They're Healthy
The FDA announced today that it would like for Kind Bars—those dried fruit and nut bars you eat because they're clearly marked "healthy" on the label—to stop pretending they're healthy. Bad news for Kind Bars, but good news for the American public, which can now stop pretending to enjoy their healthy benefits.
According to the FDA, at least four of Kind's "healthy" products—including the only decent flavor, Almond & Coconut—are mislabeled as to their nutrient contents and health benefits.
Specifically: “Your products do not meet the requirements for use of the nutrient content claim ‘healthy’ on a food label,” FDA compliance director William Correll said in a letter to the company made public today.
Under FDA regulations, only foods with less than one gram of saturated fat per serving can legally be branded as "healthy." Not a good look for the aforementioned Almond & Coconut, which comes with five grams per serving—more than a third of the American Heart Association's recommended daily intake.
Also singled out were the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein bars, which are apparently neither a good source of fiber nor free of trans fats, but still come in wrappers declaring them a “good source of fiber” with “no trans fats."
A Kind Health spokesperson tells Bloomberg the bars' benefits outweigh the FDA standards, but you don't care, because you literally have no reason to pretend you like them anymore.
“Nuts, key ingredients in many of our snacks and one of the things that make fans love our bars, contain nutritious fats that exceed the amount allowed under the FDA’s standard,” Joe Cohen, a spokesman for the company, said in a statement. “There is an overwhelming body of scientific evidence supporting that nuts are wholesome, nutritious and healthful.”
Which is actually a true statement ! Well the nuts part at least. Eat some nuts instead!
