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Because the law is complicated and they were erring on the side of caution to stay within a relatively well-defined safe area to avoid committing tax fraud.

They did not spend hundreds of dollars in labor to save 5$. They spent hundreds of dollars in labor to avoid committing tax fraud while soothing your self-admitted petty ego.

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If the government audited the company's tax records and disagreed that the fiber bars should've been expensed, they'd most likely charge tax, interest, and a penalty proportional to the $5 cost. Fraud requires intentional wrongdoing; no court or auditor is going to find that a company intentionally schemed to defraud the government of a couple dollars by sneaking fiber bars into a travel expense report.

We’ve all wasted a collective hundreds reading this thread but the only thing I can agree on is that fiber and hydration are essential for on-sites.

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