How US labeling is decieving
Replies
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Mouse_Potato wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
I have a box of Poptarts in my pantry (don't judge - it's hurricane season! ) and it lists "one pastry"/52 grams as the serving size.
Pop tarts as emergency rations. 😱
Don’t judge me either, but I have some boxes of 20 year old pop tarts in the garage because I collected memorabilia from a certain movie and pop tarts did a promo. I’m halfway tempted to open them and see if they’re still fresh. 😂😂😂
We won’t even talk about the Canadian candy bars and the Spanish malt balls (which were btw, an extra fun promotion). The British HP beans, though, the can exploded after about ten years. 🤦🏻♀️ so I saved the empty cans.2 -
paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
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paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
0 -
paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
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paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
From memory - since I haven't eaten a Poptart in decades - I believe there was a time when what people are saying was true, that one packet, 2 Poptarts, was 2 servings. Perhaps they've been shamed into change, but my better guess would be that a 2016 US labeling rule change maybe had something to do with it. Brace yourself for the bureaucratese:Over the last 20 years, evidence has accumulated demonstrating that container and unit sizes can influence the amount of food consumed. For containers and units of certain sizes, consumers are likely to eat the entire container or unit in one sitting. For other container and unit sizes, consumers may consume the container or unit in one sitting or may consume the container or unit over multiple sittings or share the container or unit contents with other consumers. To address containers that may be consumed in a single-eating occasion, we are requiring that all containers, including containers of products with “large” RACCs (i.e., products with RACCs of at least 100 grams (g) or 100 milliliters (mL)), containing less than 200 percent of the RACC be labeled as a single-serving container.
Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/05/27/2016-11865/food-labeling-serving-sizes-of-foods-that-can-reasonably-be-consumed-at-one-eating-occasion
RACC = reference amounts customarily consumed. I'll leave it to readers more pedantic than I to look into how RACCs are defined and regulated.
Yeah, I know, for many readers here 2016 was prehistoric. But for lots of us, it wasn't that long ago . . . almost yesterday.
It may have changed with the update in 2016 - I have no idea. I just know what the 2016 version said the serving size is 2 pastries and that was 7 years ago. It just means that people haven't really bothered to read the label since they eat them all the time and figure they are the same as they always were. Sounds like this will live on like lots of other things that have changed (trans fat in margarine is my favorite myth).
It doesn't really matter whether the label says a serving is one PopTart for 190-210 calories or two PopTarts for 400-ish calories. What matters is whether you eat one PopTart or two. The packaging makes it more "convenient" to eat two. (But I fooled 'em by keeping a plastic baggie in the cardboard box to stick the "extra" PopTart into, back when I still ate them.)3 -
paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
Part of the reason I started a thread like this long ago, was that I had a client eating keto. At first weight loss was good, then leveled off and then completely stopped. She didn't count calories because she was doing keto and told me she was eating the same foods. Well when Jennie O 90% lean turkey came up, I asked her how much of it she was eating. Ended up being a whole package for each meal. "But it's 90% lean!" she insisted thinking it's more protein than fat. Obviously after showing her the math and restructuring her intake, she started to lose weight again.
While you may be able to understanding labeling better than the average consumer, there are buzz words or phrases on them to entice a consumer who isn't as well versed in nutrition. Obviously if they were, we may not have the 70% overweight/obese population in the US that we have now.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Yes, people (generally) are bad at math. Way lots of us thought we'd never need math. Even more of us thought we might need a little math, but never quite figured out "story problems". Real adult life is pretty much just a long series of story problems: Car loans, mortgages, retirement planning, home repairs, and . . . yeah . . . nutrition and calories, among a bazillion other things.
Do the food companies exploit our ignorance to obscure things they'd rather not have us think about? Seems probable, to the extent they can do it within the context of labeling laws.
To me, it still seems like the root problem is the "bad at math". That's on us.1 -
Yes, people (generally) are bad at math. Way lots of us thought we'd never need math. Even more of us thought we might need a little math, but never quite figured out "story problems". Real adult life is pretty much just a long series of story problems: Car loans, mortgages, retirement planning, home repairs, and . . . yeah . . . nutrition and calories, among a bazillion other things.
Do the food companies exploit our ignorance to obscure things they'd rather not have us think about? Seems probable, to the extent they can do it within the context of labeling laws.
To me, it still seems like the root problem is the "bad at math". That's on us.
True. Kinda like "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". That's why I'm a believer in teaching critical thinking. People/companies will always try to take advantage, we need to try and see through it.1 -
paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
Part of the reason I started a thread like this long ago, was that I had a client eating keto. At first weight loss was good, then leveled off and then completely stopped. She didn't count calories because she was doing keto and told me she was eating the same foods. Well when Jennie O 90% lean turkey came up, I asked her how much of it she was eating. Ended up being a whole package for each meal. "But it's 90% lean!" she insisted thinking it's more protein than fat. Obviously after showing her the math and restructuring her intake, she started to lose weight again.
While you may be able to understanding labeling better than the average consumer, there are buzz words or phrases on them to entice a consumer who isn't as well versed in nutrition. Obviously if they were, we may not have the 70% overweight/obese population in the US that we have now.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
You misunderstood what I said- the % fat is clear as a bell. Trying to add up % calories from fat and try to determine if everything balances out is confusing. Why make it harder than it has to be? The jennio turkey is 10% fat and a serving contributes 12g of fat to my 50g target for the day. I have 38g to eat from other foods. That is what is important to me and it is right there on the label. It could not be clearer.
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paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
Part of the reason I started a thread like this long ago, was that I had a client eating keto. At first weight loss was good, then leveled off and then completely stopped. She didn't count calories because she was doing keto and told me she was eating the same foods. Well when Jennie O 90% lean turkey came up, I asked her how much of it she was eating. Ended up being a whole package for each meal. "But it's 90% lean!" she insisted thinking it's more protein than fat. Obviously after showing her the math and restructuring her intake, she started to lose weight again.
While you may be able to understanding labeling better than the average consumer, there are buzz words or phrases on them to entice a consumer who isn't as well versed in nutrition. Obviously if they were, we may not have the 70% overweight/obese population in the US that we have now.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
You misunderstood what I said- the % fat is clear as a bell. Trying to add up % calories from fat and try to determine if everything balances out is confusing. Why make it harder than it has to be? The jennio turkey is 10% fat and a serving contributes 12g of fat to my 50g target for the day. I have 38g to eat from other foods. That is what is important to me and it is right there on the label. It could not be clearer.
basic math 170 divided by 10% is 17. I don't know what you're not understanding but 70 calories of fat IS NOT 10%. It's 41% by serving.
Which was the whole point of the thread. (mic drop)
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
0 -
paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
Part of the reason I started a thread like this long ago, was that I had a client eating keto. At first weight loss was good, then leveled off and then completely stopped. She didn't count calories because she was doing keto and told me she was eating the same foods. Well when Jennie O 90% lean turkey came up, I asked her how much of it she was eating. Ended up being a whole package for each meal. "But it's 90% lean!" she insisted thinking it's more protein than fat. Obviously after showing her the math and restructuring her intake, she started to lose weight again.
While you may be able to understanding labeling better than the average consumer, there are buzz words or phrases on them to entice a consumer who isn't as well versed in nutrition. Obviously if they were, we may not have the 70% overweight/obese population in the US that we have now.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
You misunderstood what I said- the % fat is clear as a bell. Trying to add up % calories from fat and try to determine if everything balances out is confusing. Why make it harder than it has to be? The jennio turkey is 10% fat and a serving contributes 12g of fat to my 50g target for the day. I have 38g to eat from other foods. That is what is important to me and it is right there on the label. It could not be clearer.
basic math 170 divided by 10% is 17. I don't know what you're not understanding but 70 calories of fat IS NOT 10%. It's 41% by serving.
Which was the whole point of the thread. (mic drop)
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Apples and oranges. My % fat is % by weight. Yours is calories from fat.2 -
paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
Part of the reason I started a thread like this long ago, was that I had a client eating keto. At first weight loss was good, then leveled off and then completely stopped. She didn't count calories because she was doing keto and told me she was eating the same foods. Well when Jennie O 90% lean turkey came up, I asked her how much of it she was eating. Ended up being a whole package for each meal. "But it's 90% lean!" she insisted thinking it's more protein than fat. Obviously after showing her the math and restructuring her intake, she started to lose weight again.
While you may be able to understanding labeling better than the average consumer, there are buzz words or phrases on them to entice a consumer who isn't as well versed in nutrition. Obviously if they were, we may not have the 70% overweight/obese population in the US that we have now.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Hey all..
I’m the possible outlier again..
IMHO-
I don’t think the math is being manipulated. Meat is traditionally sold by total weight. When one goes to a butcher.. it’s sold by weight not fat calories per serving.
The labels are marketing this. Total weight just like a butcher shop. This hasn’t changed in the history of meat selling. If anything, we have more information now on labels than ever before. Nothing is hidden.
We can break down the macros and calories by serving and it’s typically 40-60% fat calories per serving., but that’s for many animal products..
Fatty fish like King Salmon has more fat than some meats.. but meat sellers aren’t selling by macros or fat calories, they are selling based on total weight. It’s up to the consumer to know how fat % per serving works.
Yay to @ninerbuff to highlighting how fat grams per serving works.. I totally agree/ that’s important. but we’ve seemed to descend into a the labels made us fat argument.
Why we have an obesity epidemic.. that’s another great thread for discussion, but I don’t think it’s the hidden calories in the label - I personally don’t see any hidden calories.
When I buy ground beef at the butcher.. he asks what cut of meat I want ground and ideally how much fat or marbling in the grind . He does this based on total weight not to dupe me into not knowing how much fat I’m eating.
Going to a mass producer or supermarket.. if a consumer knows how to read a label they can do the math on fat calories and servings.
I think we like blaming a lot on marketing and labeling, but I don’t think most people who are overweight have solely issues with calories from fat. It’s overall consumption.
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paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
Part of the reason I started a thread like this long ago, was that I had a client eating keto. At first weight loss was good, then leveled off and then completely stopped. She didn't count calories because she was doing keto and told me she was eating the same foods. Well when Jennie O 90% lean turkey came up, I asked her how much of it she was eating. Ended up being a whole package for each meal. "But it's 90% lean!" she insisted thinking it's more protein than fat. Obviously after showing her the math and restructuring her intake, she started to lose weight again.
While you may be able to understanding labeling better than the average consumer, there are buzz words or phrases on them to entice a consumer who isn't as well versed in nutrition. Obviously if they were, we may not have the 70% overweight/obese population in the US that we have now.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
You misunderstood what I said- the % fat is clear as a bell. Trying to add up % calories from fat and try to determine if everything balances out is confusing. Why make it harder than it has to be? The jennio turkey is 10% fat and a serving contributes 12g of fat to my 50g target for the day. I have 38g to eat from other foods. That is what is important to me and it is right there on the label. It could not be clearer.
basic math 170 divided by 10% is 17. I don't know what you're not understanding but 70 calories of fat IS NOT 10%. It's 41% by serving.
Which was the whole point of the thread. (mic drop)
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Apples and oranges. My % fat is % by weight. Yours is calories from fat.
Recommended daily allowance for fat on a medium diet (not keto) is 58g to 111g per day. If you get 10g from one serving, on the low end that's still over 10% right? And just at 10% on high end. But what if you eat 2 servings? Ah, the percentage goes up right?
So to say that 90% lean 10% fat labeling on the front of the package is being "fully truthful" is a form of deception, no? Again, you need to be looking at it from a perspective of the average American who may be dieting and thinking that low fat is the way they should be going.
You can defend the companies and their labeling, but the reality is HEALTH is not a concern for them. Selling product is, and any way they can legally "sugar coat" a product to make it sound healthy, they will do because it's profitable.
I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight.
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SafariGalNYC wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »paints5555 wrote: »In the US, food manufacturers do not just make up what they think should be a serving. FDA specifies what a serving size is for a particular type of food.
On the poptart question - where is everyone seeing that a serving is only 1 poptart? Reference amount from FDA is 110g which equates to 2 pastries. Every single label I just looked up for Kellogg's poptarts (both on the Kellogg's website as well as sites where they are being sold such as Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.), a serving was listed as 2 pastries, not 1. Please don't tell me that you are believing what MFP says.
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Even if you think the serving sizes are laughable, the information is there on the label. If you really care about what you are eating, you will read the label. And if you don't (my husband), all this discussion has no relevance since you won't read it ever.
Jennie O ground Turkey packaging claims 90% lean on the front of the package. What does that mean to you?
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Yes, I've been reading it from the beginning and thought that one was discussed to death. We had moved on to pop tarts. 90% lean means 10% fat and 90% everything else as packaged. I don't eat individual foods in isolation so 1 particular food that has a higher % of calories from fat may not be meaningful in my overall daily diet. I count grams and find that %'s are way more confusing. The word "deceiving" in this post title implies that manufacturers are doing something underhanded or illegal. They are just following the law.
Part of the reason I started a thread like this long ago, was that I had a client eating keto. At first weight loss was good, then leveled off and then completely stopped. She didn't count calories because she was doing keto and told me she was eating the same foods. Well when Jennie O 90% lean turkey came up, I asked her how much of it she was eating. Ended up being a whole package for each meal. "But it's 90% lean!" she insisted thinking it's more protein than fat. Obviously after showing her the math and restructuring her intake, she started to lose weight again.
While you may be able to understanding labeling better than the average consumer, there are buzz words or phrases on them to entice a consumer who isn't as well versed in nutrition. Obviously if they were, we may not have the 70% overweight/obese population in the US that we have now.
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Hey all..
I’m the possible outlier again..
IMHO-
I don’t think the math is being manipulated. Meat is traditionally sold by total weight. When one goes to a butcher.. it’s sold by weight not fat calories per serving.
The labels are marketing this. Total weight just like a butcher shop. This hasn’t changed in the history of meat selling. If anything, we have more information now on labels than ever before. Nothing is hidden.
We can break down the macros and calories by serving and it’s typically 40-60% fat calories per serving., but that’s for many animal products..
Fatty fish like King Salmon has more fat than some meats.. but meat sellers aren’t selling by macros or fat calories, they are selling based on total weight. It’s up to the consumer to know how fat % per serving works.
Yay to @ninerbuff to highlighting how fat grams per serving works.. I totally agree/ that’s important. but we’ve seemed to descend into a the labels made us fat argument.
Why we have an obesity epidemic.. that’s another great thread for discussion, but I don’t think it’s the hidden calories in the label - I personally don’t see any hidden calories.
When I buy ground beef at the butcher.. he asks what cut of meat I want ground and ideally how much fat or marbling in the grind . He does this based on total weight not to dupe me into not knowing how much fat I’m eating.
Going to a mass producer or supermarket.. if a consumer knows how to read a label they can do the math on fat calories and servings.
I think we like blaming a lot on marketing and labeling, but I don’t think most people who are overweight have solely issues with calories from fat. It’s overall consumption.
And I really didn't harp on "hidden" things on labels. It's being deceptive especially when it comes to marketing. FORTIFIED WITH VITAMINS in Froot Loops cereal isn't the same as eating a cereal with natural occurring vitamins that are already in it.
And you have a point with fatty fish. It's not sold the same way as the prepacked meats because saturated fats aren't prevalent in them. The less saturated fat in meat, the better for the consumer. If a package puts 90% on it, the average buyer is thinking they are likely purchasing meat that's 90% lean. And you and I both know it's not, but the average buyer believes they are buying a healthier choice.
Again, can this infomation help people here who really didn't read labels fully? I think so. The more information people can get, then it also means they can make newer decisions based on more information.
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1 -
"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.1 -
@sollyn23l2 @ninerbuff - I definitely think people reading this thread will have to read labels more critically now. Win! 😉🏆
Good points all.1 -
A side note on labels on supplements:
Look for supplements making it seem like their product was "scientifically studied and tested". Hardly any supplements are tested at all (it's expensive) and only ones with USP labeling have been certified for purity.
When a supplement line uses "scientifically studied and tested", they are talking about a "key" ingredient in their formula being tested. In most cases it will be caffeine. Caffeine has been scientifcally studied and tested and does help improve energy and performance. So while they aren't lying about the "key" ingredient, the way they word it on their labels makes it sound like they are the only one with this "key" ingredient, but sometimes never mention the ingredient on the label itself. And since most supplements use a "proprietary blend", you really don't get what dosage is being used in the product. It may not even be the dosage that was used in the actual study.
here's an example: https://www.muscletech.com/products/hydroxycut-hardcore-elite?_pos=3&_fid=475f630e9&_ss=c&variant=39510083928160
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sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
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sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
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Say what?!!!
How would you even start to know? Asking because hubs is a big tuna eater. That and (blecch!!!) pimento cheese. It’s always one or the other for lunch.
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springlering62 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
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Say what?!!!
How would you even start to know? Asking because hubs is a big tuna eater. That and (blecch!!!) pimento cheese. It’s always one or the other for lunch.
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springlering62 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
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Say what?!!!
How would you even start to know? Asking because hubs is a big tuna eater. That and (blecch!!!) pimento cheese. It’s always one or the other for lunch.
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That's interesting. Can you link to that data?0 -
neanderthin wrote: »springlering62 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
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Say what?!!!
How would you even start to know? Asking because hubs is a big tuna eater. That and (blecch!!!) pimento cheese. It’s always one or the other for lunch.
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That's interesting. Can you link to that data?
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neanderthin wrote: »springlering62 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
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Say what?!!!
How would you even start to know? Asking because hubs is a big tuna eater. That and (blecch!!!) pimento cheese. It’s always one or the other for lunch.
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That's interesting. Can you link to that data?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-TSQ4I8YtI
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neanderthin wrote: »springlering62 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
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Say what?!!!
How would you even start to know? Asking because hubs is a big tuna eater. That and (blecch!!!) pimento cheese. It’s always one or the other for lunch.
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That's interesting. Can you link to that data?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-TSQ4I8YtI
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Yeah, the tuna example didn't come up. I'm only interested in the why really and nothing else and for me personally I don't really look at nutritional labels for how many calories or fat something might have and when I do it's generally to look at the ingredients when I'm trying to decide which product I want. Yogurt for example can be au natural or it can be nothing more than full of thickeners, other additives and sugar, basically a dessert. Cheers0 -
springlering62 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »"I bet you that there will be lurkers here who may not have been reading labels more thoroughly, probably looking at them now if they are having issues losing weight."
And that's the whole point of the thread. If it gets even 1 person to read their labels more carefully, it's done it's job.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Say what?!!!
How would you even start to know? Asking because hubs is a big tuna eater. That and (blecch!!!) pimento cheese. It’s always one or the other for lunch.
I am absolutely gobsmacked. Learn something new every day.
And I’m impressed the labeling takes that into account.
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Very interesting fact about canned tuna. Thanks for sharing! I usually buy the store brand, so now I'm going to go home and check the labels! I'll keep track of the numbers for a few months and compare whenever I buy more. I too would be impressed if the labels were updated to reflect the changing nutritional information.0
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@ninerbuff
Do you have any links to data that shows the calorie difference in tuna from different seasons? The video doesn't discuss it and all I am finding is water vs oil pack differences. I know that different varieties of tuna (light vs white for ex) have different profiles but I have never heard this one before.0 -
paints5555 wrote: »@ninerbuff
Do you have any links to data that shows the calorie difference in tuna from different seasons? The video doesn't discuss it and all I am finding is water vs oil pack differences. I know that different varieties of tuna (light vs white for ex) have different profiles but I have never heard this one before.
Having watched Wicked Tuna some time ago, I do seem to remember comments about differences in the tuna at the start of the season versus the end. I imagine it's linked to the abundance of food in the ocean (or lack thereof) depending on the time of year. A bit like bears at the start of the winter versus the end?0 -
paints5555 wrote: »@ninerbuff
Do you have any links to data that shows the calorie difference in tuna from different seasons? The video doesn't discuss it and all I am finding is water vs oil pack differences. I know that different varieties of tuna (light vs white for ex) have different profiles but I have never heard this one before.
Having watched Wicked Tuna some time ago, I do seem to remember comments about differences in the tuna at the start of the season versus the end. I imagine it's linked to the abundance of food in the ocean (or lack thereof) depending on the time of year. A bit like bears at the start of the winter versus the end?
Do fish hibernate, if we attach climate change to that theory I'd imagine funding would be available. j/k. Cheers0
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