Everyone who reads my blog knows that I trust the FDA when it comes to my nutrition information.

Of course, a government-run organization bought out by corporations must have both my health and wallet in mind when they make recommendations, right?

Recently, the FDA sent Kind LLC a warning letter to stop labeling some of their bars for being healthy or for using a “+” label on some of their bars.

The FDA told Kind that four of their bars were unhealthy because they contained too much saturated fat per 40 g. The four bars that the FDA made claims about were: Kind Fruit & Nut Almond & Apricot, Kind Fruit & Nut Almond & Coconut, Kind Plus Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein, and Kind Plus Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants. How much does the FDA deem acceptable for saturated fat per 40 g to label a product as healthy?

5 Grams? No

2 Grams? Nada

Less than One Gram? Yes

So according to the FDA, grass-fed ground beef, grass-fed butter, and, of course, extra virgin coconut oil is unhealthy because they contain too much saturated fat. All of that saturated fat sure will clog you up your arteries.

What about all of that trans -fat that Americans consumed that the FDA and USDA claimed were safe for almost thirty years? Were all of the hydrogenated trans-fats consumed good for us?

We know where all the saturated fat is coming from in their Almond and Coconut bar but what about their Almond & Apricot?

“Almonds, coconut, honey, non-GMO glucose, apricots, apple juice, crisp rice, vegetable glycerine, chicory root fiber, soy lecithin, citrus pectin, natural apricot flavor.”

Well, darn the saturated fat is from coconut and almonds as well. What is so bad about ingestion saturated fat from coconuts in moderation?

I could understand if it was from hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Then again, the FDA does not differentiate between the source of the saturated fat in the determination if it is healthy or not, just the amount.

Technically, a product can have .5 grams of hydrogenated cottonseed oil based saturated fat in the product and still be considered “healthy,” as long as the trans-fat amount of the product is less than a gram (which it is) it does not even have to be labeled. ¹

Kind bars are a snack food item and should be considered as a treat. No one believes that they are the healthiest snack food item available. Kind bars, however, are better for you than most of the conventional items that are eaten as “snacks” by the American public.

So what does the FDA consider healthy then?

SOY MILK!

Heart-healthy soy protein according to the FDA labeling laws. At least it is not GMO soy.

What about coconut milk? Silk is not the best brand for coconut milk, many fillers, but hey it would be a healthier milk alternative right?

Poor Silk Coconut Milk, there is no “healthy” labeling anywhere on the carton, must be because of the four grams of saturated fat per serving. I guess the FDA is correct; coconut milk contains too much saturated fat. Therefore, coconut milk should not be allowed to be labeled as healthy. Maybe coconut milk cannot be labeled as “healthy” because there are no heart-healthy proteins in coconut milk, like soy milk. Soy milk is also low in saturated fat (0.5 grams per serving).

What about heart healthy MCT fats? ² Too bad Silk cannot label the coconut milk as “healthy”. I guess I am going to have to drink heart healthy Silk Soy Milk and get my FDA approved dose of oxidated polyunsaturated fats bright and early in the morning. In addition, I cannot have a Kind bar for a snack between lunch and dinner because that would be considered “unhealthy” according to the FDA.

Kind could not also use the “+” label on their bars according to the FDA because the bars themselves were not ten percent more or fortified with the daily reference value of certain levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

Kind caved into the pressure forced upon them by the FDA sadly. Like most companies, they are in the process of changing the labeling of their products.

Mainstream nutritionists, the FDA, the USDA, and doctors have demonized saturated fats for years. Modern research has shown instead that moderate consumption of healthy saturated fats (MCT oil, extra virgin Coconut oil, grass-fed or pastured meat, and pastured dairy) is very beneficial to the body. I hope that the FDA changes its stance on allowing products that have healthy saturated fats to be able to label their products as healthy.