KIND Bars mislabeled as healthy, FDA says

Four flavors of KIND Bars have the word “healthy” on their labels, but their nutrition content doesn’t meet the Food and Drug Administration’s requirements to be called that.

The makers of KIND Bars got a strongly-worded letter from the FDA in March saying some flavors have too much saturated fat to be called “healthy.” To have the word “healthy”, the FDA requires products to have no more than one gram of saturated fat and no more than 15 percent of calories derived from saturated fat.

The flavors are:

• Fruit & Nut Almond & Apricot, which contains 3.5 grams of saturated fat

• Fruit & Nut Almond & Coconut, which contains 5 grams of saturated fat

• Plus Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein, which contains 3.5 grams of saturated fat

• Fruit & Nut Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants, which contains 2.5 grams of saturated fat

The FDA also complained about the use of “+” in the labels, saying the amount of protein and antioxidants is not high enough in the bars.

In a letter to customers posted on KIND’s website April 14, the company acknowledges that it is changing the bars’ labeling — but not the recipes — to comply with the FDA.

The saturated fat the FDA is concerned about likely comes from nuts, KIND LLC writes.

“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. 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.

“Please know that there are no quality or safety issues relating to our snack foods or their ingredients. KIND snacks remain a safe and nutritious choice for our fans and their families,” the company writes.