FDA Cracks Down on KIND Bars Over Health Claims on Labels

Emma Christensen
Emma Christensen
Emma is a former editor for The Kitchn and a graduate of the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts. She is the author of True Brews and Brew Better Beer. Check out her website for more cooking stories
updated May 1, 2019
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In a bit of ironic timing given our KIND bar copycat recipe last week, the company recently made headlines when the FDA cracked down on some of the health claims on KIND bar labels. Apparently, a few of the bars have too much saturated fat to qualify as “healthy” by the FDA. But I wonder, is this really that big a deal?

The issue isn’t totally cut and dried, to my mind. Yes, labeling should be accurate and consistent across all packaged products, and it should definitely not mislead consumers into thinking a product is “healthier” than it is. But on the other hand, the real definition of “healthy” is incredibly complicated — and constantly changing as new research is carried out. Does the fact that most of the saturated fat in these KIND bars comes from nuts — instead of, say, a highly processed oil — change the conversation? Should it?

NPR has a nice synopsis of the back-and-forth between the FDA and KIND, and some of the issues and implications involved:

→ Read More: Nut So Fast, Kind Bars: FDA Smacks Snacks On Health Claims by Poncie Rutsch on NPR.org

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Healthy Living