Diet food calorie fat labels put to the test

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Diet food calorie fat labels put to the test - 6/16/2010 6:10:08 AM

barelynangel

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I was watching the Today show this morning and they had an interesting segment. They took some of the more popular "diet" frozen foods -- you know the ones that have the cals and fat grams labeled on the front and have them tested. I am sure its been discussed before, i just saw it this morning.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/37726086#37726086

While some of them had lower % of cals or fat, many others have a higher percent than what was listed. For example:

Lien Cuisine Rosemary Chicken had 60% LESS fat than listed on the label

Smart One Sweet and Sour Chicken has 350% MORE fat than the 2 grams it states on the label.

This is not surprising to the FDA they state or the food company's because the FDA allows them to be off by 20%. Food company's says its an average (they mean afterall they are dealing with food).

Now, this is NOT another fat thread so let's not make it one okay? We all realize that eating clean -- i.e., make it yourself from fresh is ideal, MANY MANY people utilize these frozen "healthy and/or diet" frozen meals for convenience and they mostly look at the cals and fat and carbs when choosing same. The food company said something along the lines that the noted amounts on the label are an AVERAGE. In this nation where its becoming a majority of people being over weight and obesity is becoming a major problem --

Now we have the government trying to make laws about happy meal toys and fast food and health care demands etc. Butwhen it comes to things people are LEAD TO BELIEVE are "diet" or healthy in nature for weight control or weight loss etc, the government suddenly shrugs??

Yes, education is important, but would you consider this a concept of false advertising, should the government, should they get more strict regarding accuracy etc? In this issue of obesity, should the government put more demands on these types of company's as they do on the fast food or imply these company's have a greater responsibility because they claim a "diet" or "healthy" implication?

angel

< Message edited by barelynangel -- 6/16/2010 6:13:27 AM >

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RE: Diet food calorie fat labels put to the test - 6/16/2010 6:19:16 AM

mistoferin

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The FDA is a joke. They can't even assure us that what is in our food is actually food. There is no real point in creating tougher standards or laws if no one is going to bother enforcing them.

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RE: Diet food calorie fat labels put to the test - 6/16/2010 8:10:57 AM

DesFIP

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They tested just one of each? Obviously there are going to be differences between each serving. I'd give the testing more credence if they tested 100 of each and showed whether or not on the average, the packaging is correct. Because if today you get the piece of chicken that was fatty, tomorrow you may well get the piece that was very lean. So if it averages out over time, that's okay in my book.

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RE: Diet food calorie fat labels put to the test - 6/16/2010 4:02:31 PM

littlewonder