How accurate are nutritional labels ?

arbit · 04-Mar-07, 04:59 AM

If say the label on a bar says it has 13g of sugar, whats the actual sugar that it can have ? Does anyone actually verify the accuracy of the labels ? In Taxation., there are audits, what keeps the manufacturers honest in their nutritioanl claim info ?

trainerbob · 11-Mar-07, 12:17 PM

The FDA can 'spot check' labels to make sure they're accurate, and force a recall if they're not. More than likely they just work with the manufacturer to make sure the label is fixed. Here's some more info from the FDA site...

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/lab-ind.html

So, yeah, you could be getting something other than what the label claims.

Maxgain · 11-Mar-07, 12:20 PM

If its from a known brand theres no reasson to believe you dont get what they state.

The possiblity for lawsuits is huge otherwise

trainerbob · 11-Mar-07, 12:39 PM

I guess I opt toward the more skeptical view of businesses. Huge lawsuits didn't keep the tobacco companies from screwing with nicotine levels to make their product more addictive. And the potential of lawsuits doesn't keep supplement manufacturers from putting everything and the kitchen sink in their products with little or no research to back up the effectiveness or safety. I think if there's money to be made then some less scrupulous companies will get away with what they think they can, knowing the risk of them being spot checked is low, and knowing they can say 'whoops, sorry, we'll fix that right away', which will likely get them out of hot water.

arbit · 11-Mar-07, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trainerbob

The FDA can 'spot check' labels to make sure they're accurate, and force a recall if they're not. More than likely they just work with the manufacturer to make sure the label is fixed. Here's some more info from the FDA site...
.

How often do they spot check ?
What is the % of brands out there that have been tested (big & small) ?

**minime** · 12-Mar-07, 07:22 AM

it doesnt matter really does it?! i mean if the labels are inaccurate what can you do. Calories in everything are basically an estimate. If you are really worried about it just dont eat anything processed.

I would say that most things have the correct nutrition on a label : why would they lie, its not like the candy companies are losing business because their bar has 20gram of fat and 50gram of sugar. People still eat the crap anyway, so why lie about it.

arbit · 12-Mar-07, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minime

People still eat the crap anyway, so why lie about it.

For big companies yes, no point in lying.
But for small companies, it may just be a matter of sloppy estimation.
And for zoneperfect bars or potein bars, there is an obvious incentive to lying.
Wasnt there some scandal on detour bars where it was found they had like 2x the amount of sugar on the label ?

trainerbob · 16-Mar-07, 07:28 PM

Can't find any numbers to answer arbit's question above, but given the small percentage of imported food that gets inspeced by the USDA (to protect us from bioterrorism and that type of thing) I imagine the FDA is in the same underfunded boat and only looks at a minimal percentage.