KIND Healthy Snacks Lists Added Sugar Content on Labels 2 Years Ahead of FDA Deadline
KIND Healthy Snacks became the first national snack brand to publish the added sugar content of its products Tuesday.
“Our approach at KIND is to provide consumers with straightforward information about what they’re putting into their bodies, so for us, publishing the added sugar content in our snacks is a natural next step in our ongoing commitment to transparency,” said Daniel Lubetzky, Founder and CEO of KIND.
The company simultaneously released KIND Promises, which outline the nutritional principles that guide the company in the creation of its snacks.
“Always using a nutrient-dense food like nuts, whole grains or fruit as our first ingredient and striving to make products that are low glycemic are among the standards that guide our product innovation,” said Stephanie Perruzza, MS, RD, CDN and Health and Wellness Specialist at KIND.
The decision to publish its added sugar content comes nearly two years ahead of the deadline set by the Food and Drug Administration for food companies to include this information on packaging, which is set for July 26 2018.
“When the FDA first proposed that brands may need to disclose added sugar content in 2014, we started discussing publishing our added sugar content regardless of the final resolution,” says Perruzza. “We are pleased that this regulation did move forward and are showing our support.”
KIND Healthy Snacks has been attempting to reduce the sugar content of its snacks for several years via a variety of means, including an effort last year to reduce the sugar in seven of its Fruit & Nut bars by between 14 and 56 percent, an effort that Perruzza calls “a proactive decision and not related to the proposed regulation.”
When this sugar reduction effort is completed, all KIND snacks will have approximately ½ to 2 ½ teaspoons of added sugar per serving. The FDA recommends an intake of approximately 12 teaspoons of sugar per day.
“The first ingredient in all of our snacks is a nutrient-dense food like whole grains, nuts and fruit and never sugar,” says Perruzza. “We’ve maintained a longstanding commitment to creating snacks with as little sugar as possible without compromising taste.”
Related on Organic Authority
Kind Bar’s Health Claims Under Investigation by FDA
General Mills Agrees to Pull ‘Natural’ Claims from Its Unnatural Granola Bars
Are You Eating the Most Dangerous Processed Food in America? Our Top 3 to Avoid
Image care of KIND Healthy Snacks
