NAD Declines RXBAR Label Challenge

The National Advertising Division (NAD) has found that Insurgent Brands LLC’s RXBAR labels, which feature a brief list of ingredients on the front, communicate a substantiated claim about the main ingredients in the product and do not “convey misleading implied claims about weight and proportions of the protein bar inside.” Kind Inc. challenged the labels, arguing that the labels—which primarily feature ingredients on a short, numbered list—do not imply that the list is in descending order by weight, as compared to the legally mandated ingredients list featured on the back of the packaging. NAD was unpersuaded by consumer perception surveys provided by Kind, finding “significant flaws” in the studies.

The board noted that the listed “3 Egg Whites” on the front label are present in the product in the form of dehydrated egg white powder, as “appropriate for a packaged, shelf-stable bar.” The board also found that “the dried egg whites are not highly processed or altered in a significant manner such that they should not be called ‘egg whites’ to consumers and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] permits dried egg whites to be referred to as ‘egg whites’ on product ingredient lists.”

Further, the board “also determined that the label does not reasonably convey that egg whites, nuts/legumes and dates are the only ingredients in an RXBAR. Each bar is also identified by a flavor which, for some bars, cannot logically come from the three core ingredients listed on the label.”