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So sick of false nutritional info!

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#1

InItForLife , 10-28-2006 07:08 AM

I'm so tired of food manufacturers lying about their nutritionals simply to bait those of us looking for low-point/calorie alternatives.

The latest appears to be Baker's Breakfast cookies -- their "Just For You" brand were supposedly only one point each. Now they've discontinued that brand and replaced it with "Breakfast Cookie Minis" which appear to be exactly the same size as the JFYs-- but weigh in at two points.

I'm so sick of these companies ripping us off. Pirate's Booty, Banana Crisps (Trader Joes), ..isn't there any regulating going on? I had specifically written to TJs about Banana Crisps and was assured in writing that their nutritionals were correct (it just seemed too good to be true). An independent food tester on HungryGirl tested them recently and they were indeed higher than the nutritionals states. Sheesh.

I know it sounds silly but people rely on these things to help them lose weight and this is as big a scam as instant weight loss pills as far as I'm concerned because they're more cleverly disguised.

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#2

mandagemini , 10-28-2006 07:32 AM

I know!!!! it's so frustrating. If it seems too good to be true (like the Flatouts, or Joseph's pitas, or La Tortilla thingies) I usually round up by a point or calories, just to be on the safe side!

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#3

jillybean720 , 10-28-2006 11:25 AM

Yes, things are regulated, but there is also rounding and measuring involved. For example, when you measure out 1 cup of Corn Flakes and I measure out 1 cup of Corn Flakes, I highly doubt we will have the same number of flakes in our bowls, so the calories WILL be different. The box may say 100 calories for 1 cup, but that was the 1 cup they measured, and it was probably actually 95-105 calories, not exactly 100.

Legally, if something has less than .5g of fat, they can call it 0g and say it is fat free. If something has less than 5 calories per serving, they can call it 0. This is how people get duped with things like Pam spray--it says 0 calories per 1/3 second spray (or something like that), but in actuality, there ARE a few calories per 1/3 second spray, and most people spray for more then 1/3 second, which means they could be spraying on multiple calories and think it's 0.

I never much cared for WW Points. My reason begins with pickles. I loved pickles, and according to their info, 1 small sweet gherkin was 0 Points. However, 2 pickles were 1 Point (I'm not sure if this is exactly correct, but it was something like that). Well, I only ever ate 1 pickle at a time, so I counted them each as 0 Points, but I could actually be eating something like 10 pickles a day (just always 1 at a time), which should be 5 Points. I'll stick to counting calories, thanks, where a pickle has the same value whether you eat it alone or 2 at a time

Oh, and fat grams--my biggest nutritional labeling pet peeve is trans fats. Everything says "trans fat free!" on the label now, but half ot hose things have partially hydrogentaed oils in them, so they actually DO have trans fats, just less thank .5g per serving, so they can say it's 0. The best example of this is fat-free Cool Whip. In 2 Tablespoons (a serving), they say 0g trans fats because there's less than .5g. Well, if there's .4g in 2T, and you use a recipe with lots of Cool Whip, then you're eating multiple servings and could be ingesting multiple grams of trans fats without even knowing it when you're trying your best to AVOID having ANY trans fats at all!

Okay, I'll stop now

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#4

Jasmine31 , 10-28-2006 12:00 PM

That makes alot of sense jillybean! That annoys the heck out of me too!

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#5

VelVeeta , 10-30-2006 06:44 AM

Its definitely tricky for sure. You have to know your nutrition facts in order to know what you are putting into your body as well all the tricks and the trades of nutrition labels. I have to say though, some of the people arent trying to trick you necesarily they are just informing you they have chosen a healthier option in making that product. Consumers shouldnt assume anything about nutritional value. For instance, Lays uses sunflower oil instead of other fatty oils that other chip brands use. I know that chips arent healthy for me but at the same time if i am eating lays at least i know that they used a healthier oil. Its a small piece of mind for a splurge.

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#6

mandalinn82 , 10-30-2006 10:16 AM

Well, the TJs banana crisps one wasn't exactly a measurement/rounding error - they tested at 4x the calories and 10x the fat as the label said, or something similarly ridiculous (I forget the exact amounts, but it DEFINITELY was not a measurement error).

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#7

sarahyu , 10-30-2006 10:24 AM

I was at TJ's the other day, in the nuts and found a variety that was grossly mislabled, it said the serving size was 1 cup (30g) and had 140 calories per serving. Since I know my nuts and know that 30 g is roughly 1/4 cup I new that it was a typo, but if someone didn't know and bought this product with the idea they were getting a great calorie deal would be greatly mislead. And would probably gain weight drastically if they tried to eat 1 cup of nuts as a serving.

Sarah

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#8

QuilterInVA , 11-01-2006 11:12 AM

Pickles are a vegetable so why did you count points for them?

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#9

jillybean720 , 11-01-2006 12:05 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by QuilterInVA
Pickles are a vegetable so why did you count points for them?
Because according to the info on the nutrition label on the jar lined up with the little WW Points slider thingy, they were worth Points. And sweet pickles are more than just cucumber--not taking all ingredients into consideration would be like having some broccoli with melted cheese all over and saying that was 0 Points because it's broccoli

Anyway, I wasn't actually doing WW Points at the time--my roommate was--and her Points slider thingy (I'm sure that's the technical term for it ) was on the table, so we were just checking different things out. It was frustrating because, for example, 1 piece of something could be 1 Point while 2 pieces of it could be 3 Points. Well, if you only have 1 piece at a time at different times in the day, then it's only 1 Point each, right? Just an annoying discrepancy we found.

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#10

Glory87 , 11-01-2006 12:16 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by QuilterInVA
Pickles are a vegetable so why did you count points for them?
Sweet gherkins definitely have more calories than plain old dill pickles (but I love them!)

I just accept that all the calorie counting I do is at best an estimation. I have a tendancy to get obsessive about things, I don't want to obsess over every mouthful for the rest of my life, so I try to be easy going about it. I lost weight, I'm keeping the weight off. I have a lot of tools in my arsenal besides calorie counting - mindful eating, whole foods, portion control. I use all those tactics, calorie counting is just one factor for my weight control.

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#11

girl81 , 11-02-2006 12:00 PM

this may sound overly paranoid, but i rarely trust any processed food labels.

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#12

Su-Bee , 11-02-2006 12:20 PM

It's not only processed foods! My bag of lentils says that 1/4 cup uncooked is 70 calories - whereas in Fitday is is 155! So preparing a cup of lentils with salsa for a huge, filling and fiber-filled dinner, is like 670 instead of the 280 it's advertised as!

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#13

Glory87 , 11-02-2006 12:29 PM

I like this site for stuff like lentils -

http://209.196.51.230/ME2/dirmod.asp...A206854&tier=2

According to this site, 1/4 cup is around 60 calories. Much closer to the bag of lentils than what Fitday said. When there's a choice between package and Fitday, I always go with the package.

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#14

jillybean720 , 11-02-2006 12:40 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Glory87
When there's a choice between package and Fitday, I always go with the package.
Same here. Sites like Fitday have to take into account all brands and makes and whatnot--unless it lists the same exact brand as the package you are holding (for example, I have seen some Kraft products specifically in Fitday), then I would go with the package. I would say when it comes to Fitday, I use about 90% custom foods based on nutrition labels rather than the generic info in their system.

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#15

Su-Bee , 11-02-2006 12:58 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Glory87
According to this site, 1/4 cup is around 60 calories. Much closer to the bag of lentils than what Fitday said. When there's a choice between package and Fitday, I always go with the package.
According to that site, 1/4 cup COOKED is around 60 calories. My bag says 70 calories for 1/4 cup UNCOOKED. So your site is actually closer to fitday than to my bag.

Regarding the lentils specifically, I also asked a dietician about them once (just b/c I was shocked by the huge discrepancy) - she confirmed that a cup of uncooked lentils is 600 plus calories.

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