This is a guest blog post by Carol Harvey, director of nutrition labeling at Palate Works.

Nutrition Facts labels look so official in that bold, uniform format. They must be correct… and are verified by FDA, right?

While FDA regulates nutrition labeling, they do not pre-approve nutrition panels, nor do they spend much time looking for inaccurate ones. With thousands of new products hitting the shelves every year, it would take a massively larger FDA budget. The result is something of a labeling Wild West in the food aisles and online.

Nutrition Facts data is generated one of two ways:  database analysis of the recipe (with software), or chemical analysis of an actual sample of the food (in a laboratory). Both have limitations and are not immune to human error, but in the hands of the inexperienced (or deceitful), database analysis is much less reliable. It is also much cheaper than a lab (about 15% of the cost or less), so it tends to be the choice of restaurants and smaller food companies, many of whom do it themselves with no knowledge of labeling regulations, nutrition, or what correct data should look like.

There are many ways that database analysis can result in imprecise, inaccurate, or simply wrong nutrition data. Fortunately, some are obvious enough to spot without plunking down a small fortune for chemical analysis.

Here are six examples of common nutrition label errors: Read more…

Health claims on processed food packages are usually nothing more than marketing messages. So when Kellogg’s plasters the word “IMMUNITY” in quadruple font on the front of its Rice Krispies breakfast cereal, we just have to take a peek (thanks to Fooducate reader TD for the heads up).

We took a look at the product nutrition information and at the Rice Krispies website. We’re not sure if this is a new formulation or just a new marketing campaign, but this is what Kellogg’s boasts:

“Now each and every box is fortified with vitamins and nutrients that work together to help support your child’s immunity.”

“The cereal you love, invisibly better”.

Great pitch folks. Now let’s analyze the facts…

Read more…

Creative Commons License photo credit: Michael Cornelius

Eating a sugary treat prior to a workout can improve your performance compared to just having a glass of water beforehand. However, eating a nutrient rich meal a few hours before the workout will help you even more.

Thanks, NYTimes

What you need to know:

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate and is broken down easily by the body. That’s why it’s referred to as a quick fuel. However, it’s better to mix in proteins, as well as nutrients from fruit and vegetables that help rebuild tissues after exercise.

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flickr photo : ooOJasonOoo

An interesting finding from an article just published in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that focusing on carbs, proteins, or fats is much less important than focusing on the reduction of calories for those trying to lose weight. The conclusion of a 2 year trial of 811 subjects in Boston and Baton-Rouge:

Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize.

Read the article…

What you need to know:

This is bad news for all the brand name diets focused on a specific evil nutrient (low carb, low fat), and equally good news for all those dieters who want to plan a diet that is tailored to their food preferences and cultural norms.

The key is to keep the calorie count low.

What to do at the supermarket:

Watch your caloric intake by examining the nutrition labels on foods you buy. Be wary of serving sizes that may be misleading, though. Many times, manufacturers will state a serving size that is rather small compared to what you would normally consume.

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