FDA gives a 20% leeway for accuracy on nutrition labels.

I agree its helpful to KNOW there is a margin of error. However, to put a number on it that is not entirely accurate could causeThat person would be misunderstanding the numbers. The calories can be as much as 20% higher or lower.

That is also incorrect. The FDA specifically mandates a one-sided variance, meaning the actual numbers are almost always HIGHER than labelled, and almost never LOWER than labelled.

This is an intentional policy decision, designed to protect consumers from getting less than they believe they paid for.

Source?

http://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/labelingnutrition/ucm063113.htm

From the above manual:

n order to evaluate the accuracy of nutrition label information against a standard for compliance purposes, FDA regulations define two nutrient classes (Class I and Class II) (21 CFR 101.9(g)(3)) and list a third group (Third Group) of nutrients (21 CFR 101.9(g)(5)). Class I nutrients are those added in fortified or fabricated foods. These nutrients are vitamins, minerals, protein, dietary fiber, or potassium. Class I nutrients must be present at 100% or more of the value declared on the label ; in other words, the nutrient content identified by the laboratory analysis must be at least equal to the label value. For example, if vitamin C is added in a fortified product and the label states that vitamin C is present at 10% Daily Value (DV), the laboratory value must equal at least 6 mg of vitamin C/serving (i.e., 10% of the 60 mg Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for vitamin C that is specified in 21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(iv)). The ratio between a laboratory finding of 4.8 mg vitamin C/serving (i.e., 8% DV) and the label value of 10% DV would be calculated as follows:

(8% / 10%) x 100 = 80% or (4.8 mg / 6 mg) x 100 = 80%

and the label value would not be in compliance.

Class II nutrients are vitamins, minerals, protein, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, other carbohydrate, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat, or potassium that occur naturally in a food product. Class II nutrients must be present at 80% or more of the value declared on the label. As an example: If vitamin C is a naturally occurring nutrient in a product, and the product declares 10% DV vitamin C (i.e., 6 mg/serving) on its label, then laboratory analysis must find at least 80% of the label value (80% of 6 mg or 4.8 mg vitamin C/serving) for the product to be in compliance.

The Third Group nutrients include calories, sugars, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. However, for products (e.g., fruit drinks, juices, and confectioneries) with a sugars content of 90 percent or more of total carbohydrate, to prevent labeling anomalies due in part to rounding, FDA treats total carbohydrate as a Third Group nutrient instead of a Class II nutrient. For foods with label declarations of Third Group nutrients, the ratio between the amount obtained by laboratory analysis and the amount declared on the product label in the Nutrition Facts panel must be 120% or less, i.e., the label is considered to be out of compliance if the nutrient content of a composite of the product is greater than 20% above the value declared on the label. For example, if a laboratory analysis found 8 g of total fat/serving in a product that stated that it contained 6 g of total fat/serving, the ratio between the laboratory value and the label value would be (8 / 6) x 100 = 133%, and the product label would be considered to be out of compliance.

Reasonable excesses of class I and II nutrients above labeled amounts and reasonable deficiencies of the Third Group nutrients are usually considered acceptable by the agency within good manufacturing practices.

.... it is just blatantly false to claim the calories will always be higher than on the label.

I agree its helpful to KNOW there is a margin of error. However, to put a number on it that is not entirely accurate could causeThat person would be misunderstanding the numbers. The calories can be as much as 20% higher or lower.

That is also incorrect. The FDA specifically mandates a one-sided variance, meaning the actual numbers are almost always HIGHER than labelled, and almost never LOWER than labelled.

This is an intentional policy decision, designed to protect consumers from getting less than they believe they paid for.

Source?

All the more reason to eat whole plant based foods! So you know what is actually in them and what the nutrition is :laugh:

You don't read well do you? The variation in whole plant foods in equally high even when the scale weights are held constant. Even more, the nutrient density of natural foods is highly variable (age, ripeness when picked, handling, storage temps, method of preparation, etc.) all impact how much of eat nutrient remains and is bio-available. You are suffering from at least as much uncertainly as everyone else.

Ah, okay. Thanks. But in the end, then, the best we can do is weigh everything and just deal with the rest. How irritating!

Yeah, it is especially irritating when you're trying to get a best estimate for your TDEE based on calories in (which are full of error) and change in weight (tons of error in weight measurements). But, that's all we have to work with (unless you have access to really high tech labs that will analyze everything for you).

All that said, the long term averages (average daily intake for week+ lengths of time & average daily weight for week+ lengths of time) tend to be reasonably good approximations of the actual values. If anything, it helps one learn to relax about daily ups and downs on the scale and minor (hopefully rare) swings above your calorie goals. In the big picture, both of those are easily dwarfed by the errors we can't control. As long as the long term numbers are going in the right direction, keep doing what you're doing.