I opened a "healthy" granola bar and it had MORE sugar than a candy bar

I was helping my sister pack lunches for her kids in Austin last Tuesday and grabbed a box that said "All Natural, No Added Sugar!" on the front. When I flipped it over, the 3rd ingredient was evaporated cane juice and there were 15 grams of sugar in one bar. For comparison, a Twix bar has 14 grams. How is that legal? Has anyone ever gotten a company to actually change their label after calling them out?

3 comments

3 Comments

black.pat25d ago

There was a big report I read last year from the Environmental Working Group that looked at 1,500 "healthy" snacks and found almost half of them had more sugar than a standard candy bar. They specifically called out companies like KIND and Clif for using stuff like brown rice syrup and dried cane syrup, which are basically sugar but sound better on a label. I think the FDA has some super loose rules around what counts as "added sugar" versus natural sweeteners, so companies get away with it. My sister actually tried calling the number on a box of "no sugar added" granola once and the customer service guy just kept saying "it's naturally occurring from the fruit" even though the fruit was like the 8th ingredient. It's pretty much a scam if you ask me.

victorb1729d ago

Wait, so the "healthy" bar has more sugar than a literal candy bar? That's insane. I honestly can't believe that's not some kind of false advertising lawsuit waiting to happen.

lopez.karen29d ago

Laughing at myself here cause my dumb ass bought a whole box of those "protein bars" thinking I was doing something good for myself. Brought them to work, feeling all superior, then my buddy who's a candy addict actually showed me the nutrition labels side by side. My "healthy" bar had like 5 more grams of sugar than his Snickers. Felt like such a clown, now I just eat the candy bars for half the price and skip the fake health hype.