? on how macros = calories (fiber)

BarbieAS

Sorry if this is a dumb question.

Say I want to look at a food in the database and make sure that the macros make sense with the calorie count (sometimes they're way out of whack on stuff other people enter). Carbs X 4 + Protein X 4 + Fat X 9. Got it. Now, with fiber...I feel like I read somewhere that calories from fiber are not included in calorie counts on nutritional labels, so that the calorie count would really be NET Carbs X 4 + Protein X 4 + Fat X 9. But I'm not so sure on that.

Which way is correct? Basically I'm trying to figure out what the FDA requires. And I tried to Google it, to no avail.

contingencyplan

The FDA does not require them to include information on net carbs on nutrition labels. The only people who place anything on the label regarding net carbs do it as a sales push. Calorie counts on food reflect the actual carb count, before the net is calculated.

TimeForMe99

Calories for insoluble fiber are not included but soluble fiber is. Unfortunately this information is not usually on the nutritional label. Except for cereal, fiber bars and similar items the impact is minimal.

If you really want to read the regs for labeling here ya' go. It's actually quite interesting.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm2006828.htm