LEGAL - How Calorie Count on Packaged Food is Calculated

Scientific American Magazine "Expert Answers"

http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_quest...3&chanID=sa005

Initially, the calorie count of foods was obtained by burning in an
oxygen bomb calorimeter. Today, rather than burning foods, the calorie
content is obtained indirectly from ingredient contents and using
representative values for how much energy would be liberated by those
nutrients if they were indeed burned in a calorimeter. So, the basic
method still is based on the combustion energy released by the fats,
proteins, carbohydrates (including fiber) and alcohol.

Quoting from the Scientific American website:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA) currently
dictates what information is presented on food labels. The NLEA requires
that the Calorie level placed on a packaged food be calculated from food
components. According to the National Data Lab (NDL), most of the
calorie values in the USDA and industry food tables are based on an
indirect calorie estimation made using the so-called A****er system. In
this system, calories are not determined directly by burning the foods.
Instead, the total caloric value is calculated by adding up the calories
provided by the energy-containing nutrients: protein, carbohydrate, fat
and alcohol. Because carbohydrates contain some fiber that is not
digested and utilized by the body, the fiber component is usually
subtracted from the total carbohydrate before calculating the calories.

The A****er system uses the average values of 4 Kcal/g for protein, 4
Kcal/g for carbohydrate, and 9 Kcal/g for fat. Alcohol is calculated at
7 Kcal/g. (These numbers were originally determined by burning and then
averaging.) Thus the label on an energy bar that contains 10 g of
protein, 20 g of carbohydrate and 9 g of fat would read 201 kcals or
Calories. A complete discussion of this subject and the calories
contained in more than 6,000 foods may be found on the National Data Lab
web site at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/. At this site you can
also download the food database to a handheld computer. Another online
tool that allows the user to total the calorie content of several foods
is the Nutrition Analysis Tool at http://www.nat.uiuc.edu.

Answer originally posted on May 19, 2003.
---------------------------------------- end quote ----------------

--
1) Eat Till SATISFIED, Not STUFFED... Atkins repeated 9 times in the book
2) Exercise: It's Non-Negotiable..... Chapter 22 title, Atkins book
3) Don't Diet Without Supplemental Nutrients... Chapter 23 title, Atkins
book
4) A sensible eating plan, and follow it. (Atkins, Self Made or Other)

So how do they figure out the fat, carb and protein content of a food?

In ,
Jbuch stated
| Scientific American Magazine "Expert Answers"
|
|
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_quest...3&chanID=sa005
|
| Initially, the calorie count of foods was obtained by burning in an
| oxygen bomb calorimeter. Today, rather than burning foods, the
| calorie
| content is obtained indirectly from ingredient contents and using
| representative values for how much energy would be liberated by those
| nutrients if they were indeed burned in a calorimeter. So, the basic
| method still is based on the combustion energy released by the fats,
| proteins, carbohydrates (including fiber) and alcohol.
|
| Quoting from the Scientific American website:
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA) currently
| dictates what information is presented on food labels. The NLEA
| requires
| that the Calorie level placed on a packaged food be calculated from
| food
| components. According to the National Data Lab (NDL), most of the
| calorie values in the USDA and industry food tables are based on an
| indirect calorie estimation made using the so-called A****er system.
| In
| this system, calories are not determined directly by burning the
| foods.
| Instead, the total caloric value is calculated by adding up the
| calories
| provided by the energy-containing nutrients: protein, carbohydrate,
| fat
| and alcohol. Because carbohydrates contain some fiber that is not
| digested and utilized by the body, the fiber component is usually
| subtracted from the total carbohydrate before calculating the
| calories.
|
| The A****er system uses the average values of 4 Kcal/g for protein, 4
| Kcal/g for carbohydrate, and 9 Kcal/g for fat. Alcohol is calculated
| at
| 7 Kcal/g. (These numbers were originally determined by burning and
| then
| averaging.) Thus the label on an energy bar that contains 10 g of
| protein, 20 g of carbohydrate and 9 g of fat would read 201 kcals or
| Calories. A complete discussion of this subject and the calories
| contained in more than 6,000 foods may be found on the National Data
| Lab
| web site at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/. At this site you
| can
| also download the food database to a handheld computer. Another online
| tool that allows the user to total the calorie content of several
| foods
| is the Nutrition Analysis Tool at http://www.nat.uiuc.edu.
|
| Answer originally posted on May 19, 2003.
| ---------------------------------------- end quote ----------------

FOB wrote:
So how do they figure out the fat, carb and protein content of a food?

---------- as stated in the original posting ---------

Thus the label on an energy bar that contains 10 g of
| protein, 20 g of carbohydrate and 9 g of fat would read 201 kcals or
| Calories. A complete discussion of this subject and the calories
| contained in more than 6,000 foods may be found on the National Data
| Lab
| web site at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/.



Your question is good, and I believe it is answered in the USDA site.

Logical approaches are from the recipe contents and the food database to
generate the mixture fat/carb/protein/fiber contents.

OR

To perform some other analytical chemical procedures on the prepared food.

Wouldn't it be funny if somehow the chemical procedures involved combustion?

Jim


In ,
Jbuch stated
| Scientific American Magazine "Expert Answers"
|
|
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_quest...3&chanID=sa005
|
| Initially, the calorie count of foods was obtained by burning in an
| oxygen bomb calorimeter. Today, rather than burning foods, the
| calorie
| content is obtained indirectly from ingredient contents and using
| representative values for how much energy would be liberated by those
| nutrients if they were indeed burned in a calorimeter. So, the basic
| method still is based on the combustion energy released by the fats,
| proteins, carbohydrates (including fiber) and alcohol.
|
| Quoting from the Scientific American website:
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA) currently
| dictates what information is presented on food labels. The NLEA
| requires
| that the Calorie level placed on a packaged food be calculated from
| food
| components. According to the National Data Lab (NDL), most of the
| calorie values in the USDA and industry food tables are based on an
| indirect calorie estimation made using the so-called A****er system.
| In
| this system, calories are not determined directly by burning the
| foods.
| Instead, the total caloric value is calculated by adding up the
| calories
| provided by the energy-containing nutrients: protein, carbohydrate,
| fat
| and alcohol. Because carbohydrates contain some fiber that is not
| digested and utilized by the body, the fiber component is usually
| subtracted from the total carbohydrate before calculating the
| calories.
|
| The A****er system uses the average values of 4 Kcal/g for protein, 4
| Kcal/g for carbohydrate, and 9 Kcal/g for fat. Alcohol is calculated
| at
| 7 Kcal/g. (These numbers were originally determined by burning and
| then
| averaging.) Thus the label on an energy bar that contains 10 g of
| protein, 20 g of carbohydrate and 9 g of fat would read 201 kcals or
| Calories. A complete discussion of this subject and the calories
| contained in more than 6,000 foods may be found on the National Data
| Lab
| web site at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/. At this site you
| can
| also download the food database to a handheld computer. Another online
| tool that allows the user to total the calorie content of several
| foods
| is the Nutrition Analysis Tool at http://www.nat.uiuc.edu.
|
| Answer originally posted on May 19, 2003.
| ---------------------------------------- end quote ----------------




--
1) Eat Till SATISFIED, Not STUFFED... Atkins repeated 9 times in the book
2) Exercise: It's Non-Negotiable..... Chapter 22 title, Atkins book
3) Don't Diet Without Supplemental Nutrients... Chapter 23 title, Atkins
book
4) A sensible eating plan, and follow it. (Atkins, Self Made or Other)

So this only applies to foods which are combinations of already known
ingredients. I guess I originally missed that.

In ,
Jbuch stated
| FOB wrote:
|| So how do they figure out the fat, carb and protein content of a
|| food?
|
| ---------- as stated in the original posting ---------
|
|| Thus the label on an energy bar that contains 10 g of
||| protein, 20 g of carbohydrate and 9 g of fat would read 201 kcals or
||| Calories. A complete discussion of this subject and the calories
||| contained in more than 6,000 foods may be found on the National Data
||| Lab
||| web site at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/.
|
|
|
| Your question is good, and I believe it is answered in the USDA site.
|
| Logical approaches are from the recipe contents and the food database
| to
| generate the mixture fat/carb/protein/fiber contents.
|
| OR
|
| To perform some other analytical chemical procedures on the prepared
| food.
|
| Wouldn't it be funny if somehow the chemical procedures involved
| combustion?
|
| Jim
|