Fellow Aussies - Ikea Vegetable Chips 65g Bag - Misleading Nutritional/Calorie Panel (and MFP entry)

Hi all,

Just a note to any fellow aussies on here that buy the 65g bags of vegetable chips from the food market in Ikea. The nutritional panel on the bag is deceptive. It says 299kj per bag, when in fact there are 299 CALORIES per bag. Of course, a calorie is equal to about 4.18 kilojoules, so the difference in calories is a whopping 228 extra calories. If you are logging these as 299kj (71 calories) I urge you not to. A quick calculation of the carbs (4 calories per gram), fat (9 calories per gram) and protein (4 calories per gram) shows that indeed the nutritional panel is misleading - they contain 299 calories per bag, not 299kj (that would be impossible).

I'm normally hawk-like at noticing these things but in this case, I've been busy, ignorant and snacking on one or two bags most days for the last month and a bit as they are both delicious, convenient and APPEARED to have great values for the type of snack they are (only containing squash, sweet potato, taro, carrot, green beans, canola oil and a little salt) - well, I've been consuming about 13,000 more calories over the last month and a bit than I had assumed when taking the kj on face value. I've still lost weight and almost 30cm off my measurements (although without exercise I wouldn't have lost much at all), but needless to say I could've shifted another kg or two over the last month had I paid more attention. I certainly would have spent my calories more wisely. I can't believe I was so stupid! When in doubt I normally always log the higher value.

I've written to Ikea about this and if they don't change the nutritional labeling or stop selling them I will be contacting the relevant regulatory bodies as clear and accurate food labeling is a requirement of law. If you've just bought some on the basis of 71 calories per bag, go get a refund (unless of course you're cool with the 299 cals per bag, in which case, enjoy, they are the best vegetable chips I've personally ever had).

Just thought I'd make a post, as it hasn't been brought up elsewhere online, and MFP also logs these as 71 calories per bag... needless to say 228 calories difference is a huge discrepancy. Moral of the story: if it seems too good to be true, it of course is. Always do your maths beyond the kj/cal value. And the best way to snack on veggies is always in their natural form.