A question regarding the accuracy of food labels,

VeinsAndBones
VeinsAndBones Posts: 550 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Whenever I look at labels on food, it always seems to me they end in 0's very rarely have I ever seen a label that says something other than a zero at the end of the number, for instance a box of quinoa in my refrigerator says 240 calories per 1/4 cup, when writing labels do they simply round the number? And if so by how much?!

Replies

  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
    I'm sure they do to avoid confusion.. less than .5, round down, more than .5, round up is usually how it works. Don't over think things, you'll just give yourself a headache.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    They are allowed a 10% error in the U.S. Definitely not an exact science.

    If you weigh your slices of bread, you'll find some are 23g and some are 40g....and the label says 32g. So, there's that, too, in any processed food.
  • Mom0819
    Mom0819 Posts: 77 Member
    The FDA allows food manufacturers to use averages for the calorie counts, salt content and fat grams (and any other information on the Nutrition Facts panel) of their foods, and food manufacturers are allowed to be off by as much as 20 percent. So that 500-calorie frozen dinner you're eating could have as many as 600 calories. If every meal you ate had 100 extra calories, you'd gain an additional 30 pounds this year. Another sticky label? Trans fats. The FDA allows manufacturers to put “0” if the amount of trans fats per serving is below .5 grams. “That’s a quarter of a day’s worth,” says Jayne Hurley, RD, senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who notes that 2 grams is what health experts suggest should be your daily limit.

    http://www.rodale.com/10-food-label-lies?page=5
  • T1mH
    T1mH Posts: 568 Member
    My guess is they round down. They will get in trouble for claiming more than it has so my assumption is labels are low.
  • VeinsAndBones
    VeinsAndBones Posts: 550 Member
    So then I need to start adding an extra 10% of the calories to my tracker, for example if I ate 1100, I'd ad 110 calories to my journal? Is this correct?
  • lwagnitz
    lwagnitz Posts: 1,321 Member
    ^ No, because it will likely even out. & you need to eat more.
  • chervil6
    chervil6 Posts: 236 Member
    I'm sure they do to avoid confusion.. less than .5, round down, more than .5, round up is usually how it works. Don't over think things, you'll just give yourself a headache.




    liking this answer lol
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    Google... you can find more.
    Here's one article: http://www.academymedical.com/blog/fda-falls-short-on-enforcing-nutrition-label-errors/
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Stop trying to be obsessively perfectionistic all-or-nothing.

    You have an eating disorder, so does most of your friend list.

    Eat. Stop worrying about a calorie or five here and there. 1200 is not enough - you should be at something like 2200 st your age and weight..
  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
    So then I need to start adding an extra 10% of the calories to my tracker, for example if I ate 1100, I'd ad 110 calories to my journal? Is this correct?

    I think this is a little obsessive. You should shoot to be within about 100 calories of your daily goal, whether that is plus or minus 100 calories, it doesn't matter because it is more about your weekly goal than daily goal. Granted, if you are regularly over by 100 calories, that will be 700 calories for a week- but you would still lose weight since there are 3500 calories in a pound. Also, not every food is miss labeled, so if you just add 110 calories every day, you might be missing 770 calories a week. If you log everything you eat, you will still be successful. I would just eat less processed food...isn't that what they try to beat into us with clean eating anyway?
  • VeinsAndBones
    VeinsAndBones Posts: 550 Member
    1200 was just an example, my mental problems are my own business and not even part of this discussion, Please refrain from bringing it into the conversation
  • lwagnitz
    lwagnitz Posts: 1,321 Member
    1200 was just an example, my mental problems are my own business and not even part of this discussion, Please refrain from bringing it into the conversation

    Your diary is open...it's clearly not an example, it is what you eat. If your mental problems are your business then stop posting things that so clearly point them out. You're the one who brought up that you should add 110 calories if you're eating 1100 calories/day. And if we look at your diary, that's EXACTLY what you did.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Whenever I look at labels on food, it always seems to me they end in 0's very rarely have I ever seen a label that says something other than a zero at the end of the number, for instance a box of quinoa in my refrigerator says 240 calories per 1/4 cup, when writing labels do they simply round the number? And if so by how much?!

    A cup is by its very nature a guesstimate, it's a measure of volume which depends how tightly you pack the cup and how flat or domed you make the top.
  • mfp_1
    mfp_1 Posts: 516 Member
    Firefox7275 wrote:
    A cup is by its very nature a guesstimate, it's a measure of volume which depends how tightly you pack the cup and how flat or domed you make the top.

    I agree. Weight is more accurate than volume, for solid foods. Unless it gives weight, I don't trust it.
  • david_benett
    david_benett Posts: 1
    Please note that the numbers on the labels are just estimates and the actual values can deviate by more than 75% in many cases. Although 75% is rare but it is true that real values differ substantially.
    It was found in a recent study that 11 of the 27 top-selling energy drinks in the United States do not even specify the amount of caffeine in their beverages and of the 16 drinks that did list a specific caffeine amount, five had more caffeine per serving than was listed and the average amount over was more than 20 percent.

    http://www.insignialabels.co.uk

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