Diet food drama is unfolding around David Protein bars. Per NBC News, a January class-action suit claims that the buzzy bars, popular with wellness influencers, pack roughly 80% more calories and more than four times the fat than their labels suggest. Independent testing cited in the complaint reportedly found 268 to 275 calories and 11 to 13.5 grams of fat per bar, versus the advertised 150 calories and 2 grams of fat—a gap that plaintiffs say flouts FDA rules that allow only a 20% overage.
Founder Peter Rahal calls the case "frivolous" and blames the numbers on how calories are measured. He says the independent testing lab used a bomb calorimeter, which captures energy from ingredients the body doesn't actually digest, including a fat substitute in his bars called esterified propoxylated glycerol, or EPG. Rahal argues that David Protein's labels reflect only what the body absorbs, in line with FDA guidance. "No one is getting Regina Georged," Rahal scoffs in an X post, referring to the Mean Girls character who finds out the "healthy" diet bars she was scarfing down were actually causing her to pack on the pounds.
Dietitian Amy Goodson says EPG isn't new but can be confusing to consumers trying to decipher labels and calorie counts, per NBC. The testing lab in this case, Anresco, has declined to comment, citing confidentiality agreements. Rahal says his company will fight the lawsuit and plans to "stand by" its product. Forbes has previously noted that the protein bar's David moniker was inspired by the famous Michelangelo sculpture. As for Rahal himself, a Vanity Fair profile from January billed him as loving "CrossFit and controversy."
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