http://www.businessinsider.com/kind-bars-under-fire-from-fda-2015-4

They aren’t health and safety issues, thankfully! But Kind Bars simply aren’t as “healthy” as they claim to be according to the FDA (but honestly, who really thought they were super healthy anyway? They’re so sweet!) and some of the labeling is off-kilter. Simply writing “peanut butter” or “mixed fruits” doesn’t seem to legally cover it; which if you’re looking to avoid things like corn syrup that can be found in a lot of “peanut butter coatings” should be something you’re wary of.

Your Kind Fruit & Nut Almond & Apricot, Kind Fruit & Nut Almond & Coconut, Kind Plus Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein, and Kind Plus Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants products are misbranded within the meaning of section 403(r)(1)(A) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 343(r)(1)(A)] because the product labels bear nutrient content claims, but the products do not meet the requirements to make such claims.

The FDA lists phrases that the company uses that it maybe shouldn’t, including:

• “good source of fiber,”
• “no trans fats,”
• “low sodium” and “very low sodium”
• “+ antioxidants”
• “+ protein”

And they can’t use “healthy” unless the item is “low in saturated fat” as in has a saturated fat content of 1 g or less per serving, and no more than 15 percent of the calories come from saturated fat, which they violate in:

• The Fruit & Nut Almond & Apricot with 3.5g of saturated fat per 40g.
• The Fruit & Nut Almond & Coconut with 5g of saturated fat per 40g.
• The Plus Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein with 3.5g of saturated fat per 40g.
• The Fruit & Nut Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants with 2.5g of saturated fat per 40g.

Kind blames some of the nutrient imbalances on the nuts, but then why would the other nutrients be an issue? Why wouldn’t they offer monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the nutrition information? Why did they leave out partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient? Tricky, tricky. I also didn’t know that when you describe something as a good source of fiber, you also have to indicate fat content. Hopefully for the company this is all just a bit of a misunderstanding and a lesson in labeling for the 2004-founded company. After all, I quite like their consistent appearance at Daybreaker and hope they hang around.