“No one supports Regina Georgede,” David wrote on social media about his protein bars.
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A class action lawsuit against popular protein bar brand David’s accuses the company of underestimating the fat and calories in its products.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges David’s misled and deceived consumers by labeling its protein bars with lower fat and calorie content than they actually were, in violation of federal law, according to court filings obtained by USA TODAY.
Three Plaintiffs – Daniela Lopez of Los Angeles, California; David Freifeld of Vernon Hills, Illinois; and Crystal Patterson of New York, New York, said in the lawsuit that they tested the products for fat and calorie content in a laboratory.
Plaintiffs said their results showed the bars had more than 100 calories than the advertised 150 calories and more than 10 grams more fat than the advertised 2 to 2.5 grams.
David appeared to address the claims on social media, claiming that “the confusion comes from how calories are measured.” USA TODAY has reached out to David for comment.
Lawsuit claims David’s protein bars have ‘far more’ fat and calories than advertised
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that both the fat and calorie counts in David Bar “far exceed the claimed values.”
The lawsuit alleges that when tested by the plaintiffs, the bars contained between 263 and 275 calories, depending on flavor. All bars are advertised as having 150 calories.
The test also found that some flavors had a fat content of more than 13 grams, though advertised as less than 2.5 grams.
Because this lawsuit is a class action lawsuit, it was brought on behalf of a larger group of people who may be affected. In this case, the class consists of consumers across the country who purchased David Barr.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial. If David is found liable, he would be required to pay damages to the members of the class.
Comparisons to ‘Mean Girls’ abound, but David says ‘nobody’s paying attention to Regina George’
As news of the lawsuit spread online this week, David’s clients drew comparisons to “Mean Girls.” In the 2004 film, the character Regina George discovers that the snack bars she’s been eating to lose weight are actually having the opposite effect.
However, David said in a post on TikTok that “no one is crazy about Regina George,” adding that the confusion over the calories in the company’s bars stems from “the way they measure calories.”
In a video posted to David’s Instagram, food scientist Mitch Culler reiterated the explanation, stressing that David’s protein bar has 150 calories.
“The misconception comes from the confusion surrounding a device called a bomb calorimeter, which measures the heat released when food burns. In fact, that’s where the phrase ‘burn calories’ comes from. But the human body is not a furnace,” Culler said.
Professor Culler continued: “Nutrition panels measure the calories your body can absorb from food, not just the calories released when the food is burned.”
A bomb calorimeter is an instrument used to measure the thermal energy stored in food. The complaint does not specify whether a bomb calorimeter was used to test the bars, but says the bars were measured using the Atwater system.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Atwater system is a method of measuring calories in foods. Some studies question its accuracy.
USA TODAY has reached out to the plaintiffs’ attorneys for comment.
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
