A growing controversy surrounding David protein bars, a viral favorite among wellness influencers, is drawing comparisons to the movie “Mean Girls.”
A class action lawsuit filed in January alleges that the popular bars have more than 400% more fat and 80% more calories than advertised. This has sparked a flurry of recent social media posts referring to the film’s queen bee character, Regina George, who discovers that the “health” diet bars she was given are actually making her gain weight, not lose it. Others compared the situation to the “Seinfeld” episode in which the “fat-free” yogurt everyone is obsessed with is (spoiler alert) full of fat.
On Wednesday, the company’s founder, Peter Rahal, responded in a statement on X: “No one is going to get Regina Georged.”
In an interview, Rahal said the problem comes down to the way calories are calculated.
“It’s a frivolous case where they’re using the wrong measurement and method to measure calories,” he said.
The labels on David’s protein bars, which come in flavors like fudge brownie, blueberry pie and pie crust, list 150 calories and 2 grams of fat. But the lawsuit describes independent tests that found the bars had between 268 and 275 calories per serving and between 11 and 13.5 grams of fat.
The plaintiffs say the discrepancy violates Food and Drug Administration standards, which require that a food’s nutrient content not exceed the declared value by more than 20%.
But Rahal said the plaintiffs’ evidence was flawed. The discrepancy, he said, has to do with an ingredient in David’s protein bars called esterified propoxylated glycerol, or EPG, a modified vegetable fat substitute that moves through the body without being digested.
“This is what makes David 150 calories,” Rahal said. “It’s really a special ingredient that allows the food to taste fatty but doesn’t have the caloric impact.”
The lab cited in the lawsuit, Rahal said, used a device called a bomb calorimeter to calculate the calories in David bars. That method includes calories from nondigestible ingredients, including EPG, in its count, he added.
“The science is unequivocal. You don’t use a bomb calorimeter to measure non-nutritive things. It’s very, very basic,” Rahal said.
The calorie count listed on David’s protein bars, Rahal added, is based on a calculation of only the calories the body absorbs. The company complied with FDA regulations when developing its bars, he said.
The lawsuit does not specify the method used to measure calories. Anresco Laboratories, which performed the tests, said it could not comment due to confidentiality agreements.
Amy Goodson, a registered dietitian, said EPG has been around as an ingredient since the 1980s and has become more widespread in recent years.
“This ingredient allows fewer grams of fat to be put on the food label, because it produces 92% fewer calories than a typical gram of fat,” he said. “It’s resistant to digestive enzymes, so it passes through the system, but it’s not actually digested.”
That’s a confusing concept for the everyday consumer, Goodson added.
“We look at a nutrition label and assume that what’s on the label is what’s in the product,” he said.
Founded in 2024, David Protein quickly rose to prominence, with big names in the wellness and longevity space coming on board as investors, including Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and podcaster, and Peter Attia, a physician and celebrity author. Last month, Attia resigned as David Protein’s chief scientific officer amid backlash over his emails with Jeffrey Epstein.
The hype around David bars came amid a national obsession with protein. The new US dietary guidelines, released in January, place a big emphasis on protein and recommend it at every meal. Brands have taken advantage of the trend: “Doritos Protein” chips hit stores this month, Starbucks is selling protein matcha, and the company Protein Pints even advertises protein-rich ice creams.
Rahal said David Protein plans to fight the lawsuit.
“Any time you’re at the forefront of innovation, there’s confusion,” he said. “We fully stand behind our product.”
