Every protein bar brand that achieved meaningful scale has been acquired by a conglomerate. This is not a coincidence. It is the category's defining structural condition — and the reason Traced has no green profile to award here.
"Protein bars are the only Traced category with no green profile. Not because the standard is too high — but because the acquisition pipeline absorbed every brand that came close to meeting it."
David is the investor-endorser conflict in concentrated form. Peter Attia served as Chief Science Officer and equity investor while endorsing the product to his 2M+ longevity-focused podcast audience — until stepping down in February 2026 without public explanation. Andrew Huberman remains both investor and public endorser. The product's 28g protein claim is technically accurate but structurally misleading: a meaningful portion derives from collagen, an incomplete protein that cannot substitute for whey, casein, or egg white in muscle protein synthesis. The bar also contains EPG — a novel modified fat with no long-term safety data in humans — and acesulfame potassium, despite early marketing claiming "no artificial sweeteners."
RXBar built its brand on a single promise: radical ingredient transparency. The front of the package lists the ingredients — "3 Egg Whites, 6 Almonds, 4 Cashews, 2 Dates" — before anything else. In 2017, that brand was acquired by Kellogg's for $600 million. Kellogg's is the maker of Froot Loops, Pop-Tarts, Frosted Flakes, and Eggo waffles. The formula has held. The mission has not — it now serves the growth objectives of a company whose core business is the antithesis of what RXBar was built to represent.
For 30 years, Clif Bar was the category's best argument that independence was possible at scale. Gary Erickson walked away from a $120M buyout offer in 2000, took the company into debt to stay independent, and built a business that reached $1B in revenue without selling. In 2022, he sold to Mondelēz for $2.9B. Mondelēz owns Oreo, Cadbury, Ritz, and — through simultaneous acquisitions — Hu chocolate and Grenade performance bars. Clif Bar, the company that once defined itself against everything Mondelēz represents, is now a Mondelēz brand.
KIND's origin story is one of the most compelling in American snacking: Daniel Lubetzky, the son of a Holocaust survivor, built a company around the belief that business could be a force for human good. The KIND Promise — that the first and predominant ingredient in every product would be a nutrient-dense food — is a genuine, auditable commitment. Mars acquired 40% in 2017, then the remainder for ~$5B in 2020. Mars also owns Snickers, M&Ms, Twix, Milky Way, and — since 2024 — RXBar. KIND operates as a distinct subsidiary. The KIND Promise remains in effect. The ownership conflict is structural, not yet operational.
Quest is the category's mixed transparency — better positioned than most on ingredient transparency, meaningfully compromised on label accuracy. The core issues are the net carb math and fiber source legitimacy questions. Quest bars use soluble corn fiber (formerly isomalto-oligosaccharides / IMO) as the primary fiber source, allowing a substantial reduction in "net carbs" through fiber subtraction. Independent tests and a class action lawsuit both raised questions about whether IMO/soluble corn fiber behaves metabolically the way the net carb math assumes.
*RXBar via Kellogg's → Kellanova → Mars (2024 $36B acquisition). Highlighted brands traced in this category.
In every other Traced category, at least one brand scores green. Proteins has Momentous. Electrolytes has LMNT. Greens has Ritual. Chocolate has Tony's. Protein bars has no equivalent.
This is not because the standard is impossibly high. It's because the acquisition pipeline has been faster than the founding pipeline. Every brand that developed the kind of ingredient integrity, ownership transparency, and marketing alignment required for a green score was acquired before it could consolidate that identity at scale.
RXBar came closest — and was acquired at exactly the moment it was demonstrating proof of concept. The founder who built David specifically to do better has introduced new ingredient integrity questions (collagen fraction, EPG) and the investor-endorser conflict the category's green benchmark would need to avoid.
The absence of a green profile is the editorial finding. It tells you more about the category than any individual brand score does.
David / Attia departure fallout. Peter Attia's quiet exit from the CSO role in February 2026 is unresolved. If the departure relates to disagreements over ingredient claims or EPG safety data, it will surface eventually. The collagen protein fraction question has not been answered publicly.
Mars / RXBar + KIND consolidation. Mars now owns both brands. Whether they maintain separate supply chains, separate brand standards, and separate ingredient commitments — or whether cost synergies eventually compress the gap — is the watch condition for the next 3–5 years.
Clif's Five Aspirations under Mondelēz. The 2022 acquisition is only 3 years old. Clif's organic sourcing standards and sustainability commitments have not visibly degraded yet. They may not. Or 2025 earnings pressure may produce the same outcome seen in every prior acquisition of a values-first food brand.
The next independent bar brand. The category creates a business opportunity: a protein bar built with full dose transparency, no investor-endorser conflict, NSF certification, and founder-controlled governance. That brand does not currently exist at meaningful scale. When it does, it will score green.