The CEO of a popular protein bar company is speaking out in defense of his product following a recent proposed class action lawsuit over the bars’ nutrition labels.
Peter Rahal, CEO and founder of David Protein, shared a letter to customers and partners on LinkedIn on Thursday, addressing the lawsuit and breaking down the science of calorie measurement.
The proposed class action suit was filed in the Southern District Court of New York and accuses Linus Technologies Inc., the food technology company behind the cult-favorite gold label protein bars, of mislabeling calories and fat.
“The lawsuit alleging that David Protein bars contain more calories and fat than stated on their nutrition labels is simply wrong,” Rahal said in his letter on Thursday. “It rests on a flawed and misleading interpretation of how calories are determined for certain ingredients under U.S. food labeling regulations.”
The lawsuit comes amid a rising trend of health-minded consumers reaching for high-protein and lower-sugar snacks, which as a category relies heavily on nutrition marketing and labeling.
Plaintiffs in the suit allege laboratory tests found David products contain up to 83% more calories and up to 400% more fat than stated on their labels.
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The Vitamin Shoppe, FILE – PHOTO: In this Feb. 18, 2026, file photo, a product from the brand David Protein is on display in New York.
The complaint, obtained and reviewed by ABC News, calls the company’s marketing practices “unlawful and deceptive,” and argues that it violated Food and Drug Administration regulations by using misleading health statistics to drive sales.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs hired an accredited lab to analyze the bars, with the results allegedly differing from David’s front-of-package labeling, which states that the bars contain 28 grams of protein, zero sugar, and 150 calories.
The suit claims Linus Technologies “knowingly” used numbers that would appeal to health-minded shoppers, particularly those seeking high protein with minimal calories and fat.
In his letter this week, Rahal said the laboratory testing referenced in the suit “relies on bomb calorimetry, a laboratory method that measures total heat released when food is completely burned, and applies the standard 4-4-9 caloric values for carbohydrates, protein and fat, respectively.”
The David founder said that “bomb calorimetry is a recognized calorie testing method for many foods” but that the industry widely believes it is not the right method “for determining calories in foods containing certain ingredients, such as dietary fiber, certain sweeteners, and, critically for us, fat substitutes like esterified propoxylated glycerol (EPG).”
Rahal said the FDA permits “the use of six different calorie calculation methods” and allows for “specific caloric values for approved ingredients.”
Ingredients such as carbs, fiber, or EPG, when burned in a calorimeter, “would appear to deliver far more calories than the body actually metabolizes,” Rahal said. “In reality, these ingredients are not fully bioavailable and therefore do not yield their full caloric content when ingested.”
Citing FDA rules, Rahal said the “fat content in our bars is also accurate and compliant.”
“Our products are labeled correctly and in full compliance with all FDA regulations. The claims in this lawsuit are meritless and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of basic, well-established scientific principles regarding how calories are determined under U.S. nutrition labeling standards for ingredients like EPG,” he added.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages, restitution and injunctive relief. The suit does did not detail specific lots or request a recall of any products, and no regulator has announced enforcement action tied to the claims.
