Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Kind ‘ZEROg Added Sugar’ Nut Bars Contain Added Sugar

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that Kind LLC has misled consumers by falsely advertising that certain Kind nut bars contain no added sugar.

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The 27-page lawsuit claims that although certain Kind nut bars are marketed with the prominent label claim that they contain ‘ZEROg Added Sugar,’ each bar contains five grams of allulose, which the case says is considered a sugar under applicable federal and California food labeling guidelines.

Per the complaint, the products at issue in the Kind class action lawsuit include Kind ‘ZEROg Added Sugar’ Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt Bars, Caramel Almond & Sea Salt Bars, Raspberry Vanilla Cashew Bars, and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Bars.

The filing relays that consumers are willing to pay more for products labeled as free from added sugars, in light of widespread public-health guidance recommending individuals limit their consumption of added sugars. Food and beverage manufacturers, including Kind, are aware of this consumer preference, and Kind has “capitalized” on it, the case asserts.

The lawsuit argues that advertising and marketing materials for the Kind ‘ZEROg Added Sugar’ nut bars are misleading to consumers, as each bar contains five grams of allulose, a monosaccharide, or simple sugar. Further, allulose is the third-listed ingredient in the bars’ ingredients list, meaning it is the third-most predominant ingredient in the products, the case states.

The suit relays that allulose, which has approximately 70% of the sweetness of sucrose, is often used in foods as a bulk sweetener.

According to the case, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identifies allulose as a sugar. The FDA stated in its 2016 Nutrition Facts guidance that allulose, “as a monosaccharide, must be included” in the Total Sugars declaration on food products, and current regulations define Total Sugars as “the sum of all free mono- and disaccharides” and have no exemption for allulose, the class action suit says.

Further, the FDA’s labeling requirements only permit claims that a food product is free from added sugars if no sugars, or ingredients that contain added sugars, were added to the food during processing or packaging, per the filing.

“Because [Kind] adds approximately 5 grams of allulose to each bar during processing while the [p]roducts bear false, misleading, and impermissible outside-panel nutrient-content claims, the [p]roducts are misbranded under federal law,” the complaint contends.

The suit adds that Kind’s misleading claims that the nut bars contain no added sugars violate California’s Sherman Food, Drug and Cosmetic Law, which adopts federal food-labeling regulations as state regulations.

The case notes that reasonable consumers are unlikely to investigate the nut bars’ back labels when the items’ packaging bears “conspicuous” claims that they contain “ZEROg Added Sugar.” Even if they did, the Nutrition Facts panel only discloses one gram of Total Sugars and zero grams of Added Sugars, the suit adds.

Moreover, while allulose is the third-listed ingredient, nowhere on the label does Kind disclose that allulose is a sugar, according to the lawsuit.

The Kind class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in the United States who, during the maximum period of time permitted by law, purchased Kind’s products at issue for personal use.

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