Ingredient List vs Nutrition Label

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kbkeats
kbkeats Posts: 103 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello MFP friends!

I'm a bit stumped on this one (you'll have to forgive my ignorance!). I recently bought a package of frozen Lemon Peppered Sole. The ingredient list states it contains sugar, but the nutrition label states 0g of sugar....how?

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  • kbkeats
    kbkeats Posts: 103 Member
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    Everyone's as stumped as I am eh? Chalk it up to one of food's many mysteries :tongue:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    If it is less than a certain amount, it is not required to be on the nutritional label...I think it's 1 gram or less.
  • kbkeats
    kbkeats Posts: 103 Member
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    Ahhhhh that'd make sense then.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,045 Member
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    I think in the US the acceptable margin of error on nutrition labels is 20%, too. So there's that.
  • kbkeats
    kbkeats Posts: 103 Member
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    I think in the US the acceptable margin of error on nutrition labels is 20%, too. So there's that.



    Wow - that's crazy...and kind of scary
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
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    I'd concur, something about 0.5g or less doesn't get listed.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,045 Member
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    I think in the US the acceptable margin of error on nutrition labels is 20%, too. So there's that.



    Wow - that's crazy...and kind of scary

    it's not really an exact science :laugh: None of this is...you just try to do the best you can and then let go of the rest.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    I think in the US the acceptable margin of error on nutrition labels is 20%, too. So there's that.



    Wow - that's crazy...and kind of scary

    Part of the problem is that when you are making food in industrial-sized portions, and using 25 lb. bags of ingredients, it's hard to say how much of any one ingredient actually makes it into the final product. Kind of like when you make blueberry muffins at home and get one with three blueberries, and most of the others have 7. So the testing guidelines allow for a margin of error. Otherwise, it would be hard for companies to sell anything without getting fined for the labels being inaccurate.
  • jayjay12345654321
    jayjay12345654321 Posts: 653 Member
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    I looked up several brands of frozen lemon pepper sole, and all except one had 2-3 g sugar. The one that didn't, also didn't have sugar in the ingredients list and was listed at 0.9 grams naturally.

    It's possible the brand you have is just not reporting accurately. Definitely not uncommon. Another possibility is serving size. If it says a serving is one 25 gram fillet, or something like that, that isn't one fillet out of the box. That's 25 grams, which is tiny. That way, they get the nutritional facts down to make their product look better.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,986 Member
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    I'd concur, something about 0.5g or less doesn't get listed.
    Yes, that's the disclaimer.
  • garlic7girl
    garlic7girl Posts: 2,236 Member
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    http://blog.lef.org/2012/03/harmful-food-ingredients-to-avoid.html

    Just a little FYI
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    If it is less than a certain amount, it is not required to be on the nutritional label...I think it's 1 gram or less.

    Yes, this ^^ Except I think its 0.5 g, basically if it rounds down you can say zero.

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