Question regarding food labels

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roxy_dolly
roxy_dolly Posts: 24 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi guys,

I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but am I right in thinking that the nutritional info on a food label describes the entire contents of a food package? The reason I am asking is because of pots of mozarella and sundried tomatoes in olive oil...do the calories/fat etc described on the label assume the consumer is eating all of the oil too? Obviously it would be far too time consuming to work out exactly how much of the oil one is ingesting, but is it safe to assume that you have eaten less fat/calories if you throw as much of the oil out as possible?

Thanks :)

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    edited October 2014
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    They are usually per serving or per 100g or similar, not usually the pack. Should say "drained" if excludes the oil.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I would just log it like so and move on. If they underestimated, you're safe. And if you ate less, you just added like 15 more calories to your deficit.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    I think I understand your question. Yes, calories calculated for the whole box of food includes all the contents.

    If I eat orange chicken I bought from the frozen section, the calories for the whole box includes the entire package of orange sauce. If you're like me though, you only use about half the package of sauce on the entire box of chicken. Unfortunately, there's no real way to calculate the calories NOT eaten unless the box of food lists the sauce, or oil in your case, separate from the main dish.

    If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Packaged food have a calorie error of 10-20% in either direction anyway.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    The label often states, or should state, something like "drained weight". If it doesn't, it can be anybody's guess if the oil/water is included or not. Some people use the oil, others throw it away. And noone will be able to drain the same amount off a food every time. You can't obsess over this, though, make a guesstimate, and instead be accurate with food that can be more reliably accounted for.
  • roxy_dolly
    roxy_dolly Posts: 24 Member
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    Thanks everyone. I don't worry about it, it's just been bugging me :)

    Thanks for correctly interpreting my badly phrased question!
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
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    I had wondered about this too, so I looked it up:

    http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=101.9

    "Declaration of the nutrient and food component content of foods that are packed in liquid which is not customarily consumed shall be based on the drained solids."

    So, no, I guess the calories of the oil are not included in the calorie count on the label.

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