Ask HN: How accurate are nutritional labels on food?

2 pointsblackhaj73 comments

I am guessing the accuracy involves multiple variables:

- variation in how the food is prepared each time - efficacy of the techniques used to measure the number of calories/ nutritional amounts - misaligned incentives (food companies what the food to look healthier)

So does anyone know how accurate/inaccurate they are?

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Anecdotally, nutrition labels are often mathematically calculated based on the underlying ingredients and often are not measured or tested for under laboratory conditions. When they are tested for, the variation appears to be substantial. The reason is that testing is expensive, and as it's often not required, there's little reason to do so. It's almost completely voluntary, and there does not seem to be any significant repercussions for false-statements — at least those made non-maliciously.

There are also very specific rounding rules that manufacturers frequently take advantage of to reduce the listed calories or fat content for things with small servings. You can buy oil with 0 fat per serving packaged as a spray with a tiny serving size.

https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidan... Section "How Compliance Works"

A friendlier intro: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mxNPpte_6m4

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