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Plaintiffs who accused protein bar brand David of underestimating the fat and calorie content of their products have dismissed their lawsuit.
Daniela Lopez lives in Los Angeles, California. David Frefield of Vernon Hills, Illinois; Crystal Patterson and Crystal Patterson of New York, New York, voluntarily dismissed the class action lawsuit against David on March 30, more than two months after it was filed in the Southern District of New York, according to court filings.
It is unclear why the group dismissed the lawsuit. USA TODAY has reached out to the plaintiffs’ attorneys for comment.
“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and look forward to continuing to focus on our customers and our business. We remain confident in the accuracy of our nutrition labeling,” David said in a March 31 statement.
The lawsuit, filed on January 23, 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.
Although the company has publicly denied the claims, news of the incident last month prompted comparisons to the story in the 2004 film “Mean Girls.”
David says ‘nobody’s going to be Regina Georgede’ on protein bar
When news of the lawsuit spread online in March, comparisons to “Mean Girls” drew attention.
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 March TikTok post that “no one is attracted to Regina George.” The company claimed there was confusion in how the plaintiffs tested the bars for calories and fat. The group said in its lawsuit that the products were tested in a laboratory for fat and calorie content.
“The misconception stems from 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,” food scientist Mitch Culler said in a video posted to David’s Instagram.
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 say whether a bomb calorimeter was used to test the bars, but said 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.
What was the content of the lawsuit?
In their complaint, the plaintiffs claimed that David Bar’s fat and calorie counts “far exceed the claimed values.”
Test results reportedly showed the bars had more than 100 calories than the advertised 150 calories and more than 10 grams of fat compared to the advertised 2 to 2.5 grams.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs’ tests showed that 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.
The company previously shared a letter with USA TODAY denying the lawsuit’s allegations.
“Our products are correctly labeled and fully compliant with all FDA regulations. The allegations in this lawsuit are without merit and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of basic, established scientific principles regarding how calories are determined under U.S. nutrition labeling standards,” the letter to customers and signed by David’s CEO Peter Rahal said.
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
