I am beginning to get plenty annoyed with food labels that are clearly
incorrect. For example, a while back I got two samples of General
Mills 'Fiber One' at a local diabetes awareness conference run by my
HMO. It sat on a shelf for a long time and then I decided to give it a
try. The package label said it might not contain a full 1/2 cup and the
food label said serving size = 1/2 cup, 60 calories, and 24 gram
carbohydrate. I had two packages so I measured their volumes in a 1/2
cup kitchen measure and weighed each on good electronic scale (I have
tested it against 1 cup measures of water of which the weight can be
got from the specific gravity of water, 1 gm/ml). Each package held 28
gram of cereal, so 24 gram carb is 85.7 % by weight. Moreover, at 4 cal
per gram for carbohydrate the package calories calculate to 96 cal,
which is 160 % of the label claim.
I feel that inaccurate food label information makes my job of
controlling my Type II difficult. So I am wondering if there is any
sort of 'consumer report' or 'science in the public interest' type of
outfit that published food label inaccuracies? Please tell to my email
address, if possible. Thanks, Jack Ferman

"John Ferman" > wrote in message
...
> I am beginning to get plenty annoyed with food labels that are clearly
> incorrect. For example, a while back I got two samples of General
> Mills 'Fiber One' at a local diabetes awareness conference run by my
> HMO. It sat on a shelf for a long time and then I decided to give it a
> try. The package label said it might not contain a full 1/2 cup and the
> food label said serving size = 1/2 cup, 60 calories, and 24 gram
> carbohydrate.

I don't see what is inaccurate. You say the package said that it might not
contain a full 1/2 cup. They are telling you up front that they know this.

> I had two packages so I measured their volumes in a 1/2
> cup kitchen measure and weighed each on good electronic scale (I have
> tested it against 1 cup measures of water of which the weight can be
> got from the specific gravity of water, 1 gm/ml). Each package held 28
> gram of cereal, so 24 gram carb is 85.7 % by weight. Moreover, at 4 cal
> per gram for carbohydrate the package calories calculate to 96 cal,
> which is 160 % of the label claim.

I'm not sure I follow you. Are you saying that you meaured out exactly 1/2
cup of cereal from each package, and that each 1/2 cup of cereal weighed a
different amount? And even if it did, what would that prove? It's a well
known fact that grain based products can absorb moisture from the air.
That's why when baking, more or less liquid might be needed to achieve the
texture desired of the finished product. Since the liquid being added is
usually water, more or less of it isn't going to have much effect on the
carb count one way or the other.

> I feel that inaccurate food label information makes my job of
> controlling my Type II difficult. So I am wondering if there is any
> sort of 'consumer report' or 'science in the public interest' type of
> outfit that published food label inaccuracies? Please tell to my email
> address, if possible. Thanks, Jack Ferman

I guess I still don't see what the problem is. Your cereal did not say that
1 package was a serving. In fact, you'll rarely see this, even on things
you think should be 1 serving! Instead, serving sizes are usually listed in
terms of things like 2 oz., 1/4 cup, etc.