That seems so un-Kind.
The manufacturers of the Kind energy and snack bars are facing a proposed class action by consumers who say the company mislead them into believing certain of their products contained unprocessed fruit.
The Brooklyn federal court lawsuit claims that a number of the varieties of two snacks, “Pressed by Kind” and “Fruit Pieces” portray their ingredients has being whole, unsullied fruit — when the in fact the produce is actually processed, often with the addition of sugar.
For example, the “Mango Apple Bar” contains tropical imported fruits, which are pre-treated with a sugar solution prior to dehydration, the papers claim.
“The result is an increased net sugar content in the fruit which is sweeter than if it had been only air dried, or if it were consumed fresh,” the lawsuit reads.
Still, the product packaging includes images of whole fruit, and ingredients are simply listed “mango, apple, chia.”
“The message is that the Products are made by taking whole intact fruits, washing, dicing or chopping, expressing juice, etc., then shaping to form the final product,” the court papers read. “Defendant’s purpose was to mislead consumers who seek foods which are as close
to their original form as possible and contain ingredients they are familiar with and do not contain
chemical-sounding terms like ascorbic acid.”
The suit, which cites fraud and unjust enrichment, wants a judge to order the company to correct the misleading packaging, and requests unspecified damages.
Kind LLC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.