Asian Label Inaccuracies

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tishka11
tishka11 Posts: 76
in Food and Nutrition
Does any one know how accurate the nutritional information is on asian foods?

I buy quite a few things from there, and used to buy more, but started to suspect that the labels were inaccurate and actually contained a lot more calories than they had stated

Eg - bean curd puffs - a bag of 180g has 104 cal according to the label
And bean cake - 150g - has 76 cal

If you work it all out based on the protein, fat, carb etc content it checks out, but does anyone know whether this could just be made up
Basically - CAN I TRUST IT??? or should i just avoid them???

This is especially important to me because i vegan so get a lot of my soy/tofu products from thereasian stores :)

Thanks all!

Replies

  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Does any one know how accurate the nutritional information is on asian foods?

    I buy quite a few things from there, and used to buy more, but started to suspect that the labels were inaccurate and actually contained a lot more calories than they had stated

    Eg - bean curd puffs - a bag of 180g has 104 cal according to the label
    And bean cake - 150g - has 76 cal

    If you work it all out based on the protein, fat, carb etc content it checks out, but does anyone know whether this could just be made up
    Basically - CAN I TRUST IT??? or should i just avoid them???

    This is especially important to me because i vegan so get a lot of my soy/tofu products from thereasian stores :)

    Thanks all!
    You can say the same about any nutrition label, not just ASIAN ones. I didn't even know there were ASIAN labels. I thought they were just labels.

    Trust the label.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    I think that it is frowned upon with any food to mislead consumers as to the contents of food..including the calorie amount.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    I get very suss on labels in general, not just foreign ones. While I did have a satay sauce I loved and always suspected it wasn't accurate and then it changed and made me sad, I had the same experience with local sausages recently where a new product seemed fabulous, then when I cooked it it seemed too fatty, and 2 weeks later the labels changed completely.

    My general rule is - be logical. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Check the ingredients and make an educated judgment call.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    You might want to verify if it is cal or kcal.

    I remember some things in Japan with the labels saying kcal and not cal. But overall, yeah, go with the label.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    You can say the same about any nutrition label, not just ASIAN ones.
    I agree. I think most of the Asian foods listed here are all US based which for most of the time is resulting to overestimation of calories for someone living outside the US. I live in Asia & this has been my biggest problem of all.

    I think it is better if you take a look at the package first to see if there is nutritional information before buying it.
  • tishka11
    tishka11 Posts: 76
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    Does any one know how accurate the nutritional information is on asian foods?

    I buy quite a few things from there, and used to buy more, but started to suspect that the labels were inaccurate and actually contained a lot more calories than they had stated

    Eg - bean curd puffs - a bag of 180g has 104 cal according to the label
    And bean cake - 150g - has 76 cal

    If you work it all out based on the protein, fat, carb etc content it checks out, but does anyone know whether this could just be made up
    Basically - CAN I TRUST IT??? or should i just avoid them???

    This is especially important to me because i vegan so get a lot of my soy/tofu products from thereasian stores :)

    Thanks all!
    You can say the same about any nutrition label, not just ASIAN ones. I didn't even know there were ASIAN labels. I thought they were just labels.

    Trust the label.

    Sorry, i wasnt meaning to single out asian labels...and i know i can be others...its more just that they are imported is all...and they are the particular ones i am consuming at the moment
    Very sorry if that sounded like i was being racist or prejudiced towards asain labels :(
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    You might want to verify if it is cal or kcal.

    I remember some things in Japan with the labels saying kcal and not cal. But overall, yeah, go with the label.
    kcal & cal are just the same. Americans tend it use 'cal' while in Europe & Asia, it is 'kcal'

    What I'm having trouble is whenever I see Australian/NZ terms like kJ or kilojoules & joules.
  • tishka11
    tishka11 Posts: 76
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    Well the label say kJ - which is fine because im n Australia and we use kJ not cal
  • psychic_atrophy
    psychic_atrophy Posts: 26
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    Living and shopping in a community with a number of Korean and Japanese super markets, I understand your confusion and concern. Where I sometimes shop, it is hard for me to tell what it even is based on packaging alone! To answer your question, from what i've been reading, imported food (to the US) must have a nutritional label (there are some exceptions). The companies must make tests and maintain a database. They may also voluntarily submit foods to the FDA for testing. [info found on fda.gov] Of course, they could lie, but it wouldn't really serve them as it appears they could get into a bit of trouble if they are found out. I hope that helps.
  • tishka11
    tishka11 Posts: 76
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    Living and shopping in a community with a number of Korean and Japanese super markets, I understand your confusion and concern. Where I sometimes shop, it is hard for me to tell what it even is based on packaging alone! To answer your question, from what i've been reading, imported food (to the US) must have a nutritional label (there are some exceptions). The companies must make tests and maintain a database. They may also voluntarily submit foods to the FDA for testing. [info found on fda.gov] Of course, they could lie, but it wouldn't really serve them as it appears they could get into a bit of trouble if they are found out. I hope that helps.

    Thank you so much! This info is particularly important to me as, for health reasons, ive needed to increase my fat intake and these products seem to be the best way to do so...you have made me feel a lot better :)

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