I was watching my beloved Today Show the other morning and they showed a disturbing story about how inaccurate food labels can be. Click here to watch.
The laws around food labeling are all the rage these days – restaurants, packaged foods and small food makers are all getting on board. Some of them have to due to new laws in their region, but many realize that the consumer is getting smarter and more proactive and wants to know what is in their food before they decide to buy it.
Overall, I think it is great that there is more awareness about calorie content and teaching the consumer what is in your food but, because I am slightly jaded I will often look at food labels and know that they are not correct. How can I say that with such conviction? I mean, they wouldn’t lie right??? Not only am I pretty great at eyeballing calorie content but also because I know what really goes into getting an accurate calorie count and I am certain that many food makers and restaurants are not doing this.
How do you get an accurate calorie count? Just like it shows in the piece from the Today, the food will be sent to a lab where they mix it all in a blender and then test the mixture to get an accurate nutrient breakdown. It is the gold standard and the only way to get a truly accurate read. As you would expect it is very expensive and time intensive. For example, if a restaurant wants to have a special for the day based on seasonal ingredients– are they going to send that to a lab for testing? And how long will it take to get the results?
So how do many restaurants and food makers get data for their food labels? Some go through the process of sending it to lab or some use computer software to test their recipes. The first problem is some of these computer programs do not have a thorough database so there can be errors. The second problem is that the portion sizes have to be standardized (which is a problem in restaurants). Lastly, the nutrient breakdown can change after the food has been cooked or altered. For example, a cookie may have 1 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of sugar in it, but when it is cooked together those nutrients will/may change. The software may not take all of that into consideration
So what do you do? Stop eating out? Never trust a food label ever again? Of course not! You cannot spend your time afraid of all food.
What you can do it look not only at the food label but also the ingredients. Know what you are eating – what is it made of? If you know the ingredients are whole foods then you are headed in the right direction. Also educate yourself on what is a protein, carbohydrate and fat so you know what nutrients you are eating. Manage the portion size based on that. Remember, you only need to eat enough to last you 4 hours so find the sweet spot when it comes to portion size.
For you calorie counters out there – you know who you are – step away from the food label and look at the food you are eating. Eat balanced portions, find your protein and your carbohydrate and enjoy what you are eating.
Imagine that….actually enjoy what you are eating! I think that sounds like a great plan.