Truthful food labels?

CynthiasChoice

I generally try to stay away from packaged foods, but I use the once in a while, and wonder how accurate the food labels really are.

Does anyone remember a news story about how an ice cream company got caught mislabeling, and was grossly under-reporting calorie content? It was about 10 years ago, but it always stuck in my mind that the news article reported that ice cream labels were required to be accurate with a 30% margin of error. THIRTY PERCENT!!

I'm thinking about this because I just ate Trader Joe's Five Seed Almond Bar, which labels:

110 Calories
4.5g Fat
16g Carb
8g Sugar
2g Protein.

I like the Trader Joe's bar better than the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bar, which labels:

220 Calories
11g Fat
26g Carb
19g Sugar
6g Protein

I'm suspicious that the Trader Joe's bar label may not be completely truthful. The Trader Joe's bar is much sweeter, so only 8 grams of sugar is suspicious.
The Lara Bar is Fair Trade, and very few ingredients, which I like, but I really have to save up for those 220 calories! And 1/2 a bar is sooo hard!! And so small.:frown:

Anyone work in the food industry? What's the consensus? If it sounds too good to be true.....?

MurphysLawTD

BUMP

I'd like some answers too!

sunnyside1213

Question: "How accurate are nutrition labels? Can you really trust the numbers?"

Answer: According to the Food and Drug Administration, which sets food-labeling guidelines, calorie counts must be accurate within a five-calorie window. Foods containing fewer than five calories per serving can be called "calorie-free." Similar wiggle room is offered for a host of other food components, like trans fats, saturated fat, and total fat. The responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of food labels rests with the food manufacturer, not with the government. However, the FDA does conduct random sampling and testing to ensure accuracy. If a company is found to be in violation, the FDA will take regulatory action. For more information on food-labeling guidelines, go to cfsan.fda.gov.
cfsan.fda.gov >>


Originally published in Fitness magazine, February 2006.

CynthiasChoice

Question: "How accurate are nutrition labels? Can you really trust the numbers?"

Answer: According to the Food and Drug Administration, which sets food-labeling guidelines, calorie counts must be accurate within a five-calorie window. Foods containing fewer than five calories per serving can be called "calorie-free." Similar wiggle room is offered for a host of other food components, like trans fats, saturated fat, and total fat. The responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of food labels rests with the food manufacturer, not with the government. However, the FDA does conduct random sampling and testing to ensure accuracy. If a company is found to be in violation, the FDA will take regulatory action. For more information on food-labeling guidelines, go to cfsan.fda.gov.
cfsan.fda.gov >>


Originally published in Fitness magazine, February 2006.

Thank you so much!