You may be ingesting more calories than you think

shaumom
shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
edited October 2014 in Food and Nutrition
If you are trying to be very precise about your calories, it is better measure out your portions by serving sizes as opposed to recording the amount that would be a package, half a package, etc...

This is because most companies have more food in each package than is stated on the label. Which means most packages have more calories than stated on the label. There are pretty stiff penalties for having LESS product than the amount listed on a package label; it's easier (and cheaper) for a company to add just a little bit more food to a package and ensure that it won't drop under the listed weight/volume.

So nearly every time we eat a whole package of something, we're getting a few more calories than we think.

Replies

  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Yes, labels can be off by 20% I believe it is by law.
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
    i guess that makes sense.
    however i don't see how it can really make that much of a difference i dunno.
    ive gotten this far without stressing about every crumb that didnt hit the food scale.

    maybe when your closer to goal this smaller details might matter more.
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    I figure if everything is +/- 20%, in the end it all comes out in the averages. I don't worry about it.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    beamer0821 wrote: »
    however i don't see how it can really make that much of a difference i dunno.

    Yeah, it's more for those who are very careful on their calories. I've known a couple folks who ate mostly processed food, though, where this actually made a difference between losing weight and hitting a plateau, so I thought it was worth knowing.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    edited October 2014
    glevinso wrote: »
    I figure if everything is +/- 20%, in the end it all comes out in the averages. I don't worry about it.

    Actually, it's only +20%, rather than +/- 20%. Only excess is allowed, so that you never have to pay for less goods than you purchased.

    (This has the regulations listed, but it's kind of a pain to wade through: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm063113.htm )
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    shaumom wrote: »
    beamer0821 wrote: »
    however i don't see how it can really make that much of a difference i dunno.

    Yeah, it's more for those who are very careful on their calories. I've known a couple folks who ate mostly processed food, though, where this actually made a difference between losing weight and hitting a plateau, so I thought it was worth knowing.

    I'm glad you posted this since it's a great reminder for anyone who might wonder why they aren't losing or aren't losing at the pace they expect. There are a ton of places where calories or portion sizes are rounded off that can lead to inaccuracies in logging. For some people and in some circumstances, those little inaccuracies can add up to enough that it wipes out the deficit they thought they were creating.

    If someone is losing without having to worry about this kind of stuff, great! Keep it up. But for those who might be struggling, this is one of those places to look and double-check that the numbers are accurate (or as accurate as we can manage).
  • vegankalequeen
    vegankalequeen Posts: 22
    I KNOW I eat more calories than what I have logged. I just use it as a basic guideline. Nothing is perfect in life, and having an exact and factual number of calories written down isn't something I lose sleep over.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    It's 20% off the label PLUS the wrong serving size. Like, if your slice of bread is 55g instead of 50g, that's not even accounted in the 20%.
  • teagirlmedium
    teagirlmedium Posts: 679 Member
    shaumom wrote: »
    glevinso wrote: »
    I figure if everything is +/- 20%, in the end it all comes out in the averages. I don't worry about it.

    Actually, it's only +20%, rather than +/- 20%. Only excess is allowed, so that you never have to pay for less goods than you purchased.

    (This has the regulations listed, but it's kind of a pain to wade through: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm063113.htm )

    Good to know. I will look into this. Thank you for posting a link for us to look at if we want to.

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