The Food and Drug Administration is tearing into several Kind fruit and nut bars, blasting the company’s claims they are healthy.
Apparently there is a federal criterion for what is considered healthy, and Kind doesn’t meet it, according to a recent FDA warning letter to the company.
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The agency singled out the labels for four Kind bars: almond and apricot, almond and coconut, peanut butter-dark chocolate and protein, and dark chocolate-cherry cashew and antioxidants.
The agency took aim at several claims that the bars were “healthy,” including that they were low in sodium and were a good source of fiber.
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However, none of the bars meet the federal definition for “healthy.” Yes, there is actually a definition.
For a product to be labeled healthy, it has to have only one gram of saturated fat per 40 grams of a product’s serving size. The Kind bars contain between 2.50-five grams of saturated fat per 40 grams.
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The agency also slammed Kind for calling its antioxidant dark chocolate bar as “antioxidant-rich.” There are even requirements that Kind had to meet to make that claim.
To be “rich” in antioxidants, 20 percent or more of the nutrients in a bar would have to be recognized antioxidants such as vitamins C or E, the FDA said.
Based on the Kind bar’s label, it only has 15 percent.
If Kind doesn’t remove the “healthy” label, the FDA could seize the affected products.
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Kind blamed the warning letter on nuts that have “nutritious fats that exceed the amount allowed under the FDA’s standard,” according to a blog post on the company’s website. “This is similar to other foods that do not meet the standard for use of the term healthy, but are generally considered to be good for you like avocados, salmon and eggs.”
The company added it plans to work with the FDA to comply with its request and review its labels.
A spokesman for Kind told the Washington Examiner this is the first warning letter the company has received for a misleading healthy label.
It is rare for the FDA to go after a company for healthy labeling claims. Last year the agency issued more than 8,000 warning letters for food, drugs and devices but only issued five for unhealthy food labeled as healthy.
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However, companies sometimes avoid calling their products healthy by using other terms that convey it is healthy, like “natural,” “real” and “ancient.”
“These terms may make the product seem healthier but because there is no definition, it means nothing,” Julie Upton, a registered dietician and co-founder of the nutrition site Appetite for Health, told the Examiner.
Upton also warned consumers to not buy a product just because it was deemed healthy by a third party.
“Even if a food has an American Heart Association Heart Check or a Whole Grain stamp or other icon that imparts better-for-you, the criteria are often not nearly as strict as what the FDA would require,” she said.
