Why Clif Bars Will No Longer Be Labeled 'Nutritious'

Health foods might be marketable, but only if you're selling an actual health food. Energy bar giant Clif is facing backlash for using purportedly misleading advertising to oversell the "wellness" benefits of a high-sugar product, per Food Navigator U.S.A. Grocery store giants Kellogg and Post, it says, are also facing similar suits for the same issue. Now, Clif is finally closing its latest class action lawsuit, first filed in 2018, with a whopping settlement of $10.5 million. As part of the settlement, Clif will also stop using keywords "nutritious" or "nourishing" on packaging or advertising for the product.

Clif's attorneys argued that the opposition's claims were "based on factually unsupported conclusions that Clif Bar products are 'high-sugar,' a term not defined by the FDA." The brand's attorneys also argued that "A reasonable consumer would know that the challenged products contained added sugars, and that the sugars were part of the promise of energy." However, the proven long-term health ramifications of excessive sugar consumption have caused more than a few eyebrows to raise at this advertised "nutritious" food -– and the bit about the FDA isn't technically true, either. The FDA has, in fact, explicitly outlined what qualifies as a "high-sugar" food, using that wording exactly.