Dieters Fooled By 'invisible Calories'....

[quilp]

From the Telegraph....

 

'Calorie levels printed on food packaging are misleading, nutritionalists claim.

Manufacturers' measurements of energy levels in food do not include fibre, which accounts for 5% of our calorie intake.

Dieters who eat muesli, for example, may wonder why they are struggling to lose weight because the packaging ignores ''invisible calories'' in its high fibre content.

At a meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, in Boston, Dr. Geoffery Livesey, a nutritionalist said, ''Consumers have been eating more calories than they thought they were, particularly if the food was high fibre.''

European Commission rules require manufacturers to imclude fibre in their calorie calculation, but Dr. Livesey said it remains unclear how many are complying.'

 

A report such as this shows that we are less than informed about so much of what we eat. In the light of the horse-meat scandal, it indicates that rules are flouted right across the board and consumers are being misled. It's tantamount to 'false-pretences'. The 5% margin can be crucial to a person who takes their dieting seriously and genuinely longs to shed the pounds. Looking at a 30g portion of hot oat cereal from tesco, the kcal measurement (110kcal) is separate from the fibre value (2.4g), which seems a significant increase in total calorific value.

An upheaval and revision of the rules is urgently required. It would seem the Food Standards Agency continues to fail its remit.

 

You are what you think you eat....

[buzz]

I must have been eating horse for a lot of years then.....I think

[ACLDM]

Although I agree that portion sizes are getting bigger all the time and that there's hidden saturated fats, sugar and salt in our food, I think the biggest problem is that we're all so bloody bone idle these days. Hardly anybody walks anywhere, we all sit on our backsides surfing the internet, playing computer games, watching the telly etc.etc. Even our kids are growing up lazy, being ferried around in the car and then spending their free time on the computer. I'm waiting for knee surgery and was told by my consultant at Nobles, 12 months ago, to stop my two biggest hobbies which were mountain biking and fell running. In the last year I've gained over a stone even though I'm still attempting to stick to my (mostly!) very healthy, unprocessed, vegetarian diet.

[hissingsid]

This report is crap, my weetabix packet and my Quaker Oats both have the fibre content printed on them, although I note with dismay the oats are past their best buy date they will remain, until consumed , in the cupboard. There is a fibre content in every thing I buy, I know because it has to go on my Weight watchers calculater.