Forward Foods, LLC makes “lean” protein bars, including Detour Lean Muscle Cookie Dough Caramel Crisp protein bars and Detour Lean Muscle Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch protein bars. But the complaint for this class action alleges that these bars cannot lawfully be labeled as “lean” because they contain significant amounts of palm kernel, sunflower, and flax oils, which the complaint calls “considerable sources of fat.”
The class for this action is all people in the US who bought any Forward Foods product that falsely advertised the bars’ purported fat content during the applicable statute of limitations.
Many consumers prefer to buy low-fat foods. This may be because they want to lose fat and gain muscle, or it may be for health reasons, because of concern about things like heart disease or high blood pressure. Each of the Detour protein bars shows the words “Lean Muscle” prominently on its front label. “However,” the complaint alleges, “contrary to [the Forward Foods] representation, the Bars do not contain any less fat than similar ‘non-lean’ protein bars on the market.”
The Code of Federal Regulations, among other things, provides information on how foods can and cannot be labeled. According to the complaint, it says that “[t]he term ‘lean’ may be used on the label or in labeling of a product, provided that the product contains less than 10 g of fat, 4.5 g or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per 100 g of product and per reference amount customarily consumed for individual foods.” The complaint claims that the Detour Lean Muscle protein bars do not meet these requirements.
Page 5 of the complaint shows images of the packages for the two products, with the words “Lean Muscle” in the largest font on the boxes. The complaint also displays images of the products’ Nutrition Facts panels. These show at the Cookie Dough Caramel Crisp bars contain 12 g of gat and 7 g of saturated fat, while the Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch bars contain 18 g of fat and 9 g of saturated fat.
The complaint therefore alleges that neither variety of the protein bars meets the requirements for “lean” labeling and that the labeling of the products “is false and misleading.
The complaint also claims that the Forward Foods “use of the word ‘lean’ to describe its Bars is particularly misleading because these Bars do not contain any less fat than similar ‘non-lean’ protein bars on the market. Almost all of [the Forward Foods] competitors produce protein bars with the same, if not lower, fat and cholesterol levels.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Detour “Lean Muscle” Protein Bars Labeling Complaint
May 20, 2022
Forward Foods, LLC makes “lean” protein bars, including Detour Lean Muscle Cookie Dough Caramel Crisp protein bars and Detour Lean Muscle Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch protein bars. But the complaint for this class action alleges that these bars cannot lawfully be labeled as “lean” because they contain significant amounts of palm kernel, sunflower, and flax oils, which the complaint calls “considerable sources of fat.”
Detour “Lean Muscle” Protein Bars Labeling ComplaintCase Event History
Detour “Lean Muscle” Protein Bars Labeling Complaint
May 20, 2022
Forward Foods, LLC makes “lean” protein bars, including Detour Lean Muscle Cookie Dough Caramel Crisp protein bars and Detour Lean Muscle Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch protein bars. But the complaint for this class action alleges that these bars cannot lawfully be labeled as “lean” because they contain significant amounts of palm kernel, sunflower, and flax oils, which the complaint calls “considerable sources of fat.”
Detour “Lean Muscle” Protein Bars Labeling Complaint