Can food labels lie?

jtintx

I'm was looking at some of my food choices trying to figure out some better options when I noticed something. Many evenings I'll cook a whole bag of Birdseye Viola! Three Cheese Chicken. Per the nutrition label it says the whole bag is only 630 calories. Well if a carb is 9 cal. per gram and fat and protein are 4 cal. per gram, add it up and according to the label the calorie total should be 819! So what gives? Are they lying or am I missing something?:mad:

jtintx

I'm was looking at some of my food choices trying to figure out some better options when I noticed something. Many evenings I'll cook a whole bag of Birdseye Viola! Three Cheese Chicken. Per the nutrition label it says the whole bag is only 630 calories. Well if a carb is 9 cal. per gram and fat and protein are 4 cal. per gram, add it up and according to the label the calorie total should be 819! So what gives? Are they lying or am I missing something?:mad:

aprilvet

Carbs and protein are 4 cals per gram, FAT is 9 cals per gram. This should match the label much better!

jtintx

Boy do I feel stupid! Yep, that's what it was. Shouldn't try to rely on memory these days. Thanks for setting me straight.

Ezzie

They may not lie, BUT they certainly can mislead, be confusing, difficult to interpret, and in general be less than helpful in some cases.

Pet peeve: ( just one example)

Pasta. serving is 1/2 cup (dry maybe, doesn't specify)
servings per container 8
then, according to preparation guide, if you cook the whole box,

you have made 4-6 HELPINGS

So, if I cook the whole box, THEN divide into 8 portions, I can figure out the nutrition per SERVING, since I have no clue by either weight or volume how much a cooked SERVING is. :grumble: :grumble:

Oh well....life goes on. Sorry that doesn't answer your question...but hey I feel better, thanks for the opportunity to vent!:blushing:

Kimono

In the book "Eat this Not That" it states that some label are off by a bit, but not that much, maybe 20 calories or so.