Well, the entertainer, the creative writer and the motivator are on holidays, so the educator bloke has turned up for work this morning. I might actually make you think today, so get ready.
I’m always being asked for my opinion on a range of products; books, supplements, programs, exercise equipment and lately for some strange reason, frozen low-fat meals. Now, you and I both know that many products aren’t exactly what their companies make them out to be, especially when it comes to food products and supplements. Of course not, it’s their job to sell as much stuff as possible and increase their bottom line, and it’s your job to figure out exactly what you’re buying and in this case, putting into your body. These companies don’t care about your physical health, they care about their financial health – keeping their shareholders happy.
That’s why we need a bullshit filter; to be able to sift through the marketing crap and uncover the absolute truth about particular products.
Of course it would be great if we lived in a world where every manufacturer and supplier was completely transparent about their products, but we don’t. We live in a highly competitive, win-at-all-costs, sometimes amoral world, where some companies will do pretty much anything to ‘win’. So the net result of all that, is that you and I need to be more aware, more educated and less naive, especially when it comes to managing our greatest resource, our body.
I could write an entire book on this subject (companies misrepresenting products, misleading consumers, using selective science and distorting the truth to sell products) but for today, I’ll just focus on this simple, easy-to-understand example of how quickly we can be mislead when it comes to certain products, in this particular instance low-fat meals that aren’t low fat at all.
Ignore the front and read the back.
If you really want to know what’s in the box (packet, can, bag) understand that what’s written on the front is called advertising, not information. The important information is usually somewhere on the back of the product in teeny weeny writing – no shock there.
Recently someone asked me what I thought of a particular ‘low-fat’ frozen dinner. I asked them to bring me the box so that I could take a peek at the nutritional information and give them some informed advice, specific to that product. You can see (part of) the front of the box in the picture (sorry about Johnnie’s photographic skills – or lack thereof). I have intentionally not included the name of the manufacturer because most of these types of products (irrespective of the company) are very similar in terms of nutritional value, so I felt to publicly identify one of many companies would be unfair.
Notice the most prominent writing on this label – “97% fat free” – in large, impossible-to-miss letters. So clearly this must be a healthy, low-fat product. It says so right there on the box!
It also has the tick of approval of the ‘National Heart Foundation’ (bottom left), so it must be good. But as I said before, things are not always (in fact often) what they seem, especially when it comes to some low-fat food options.
Now let’s take a look at the reverse side of the packet and we will discover how misleading some packaging and marketing can be. You may need to really pay attention and put on your thinking cap for the next bit. It’s hard to make out, but the second green line in the nutrition information box says:
Fat, total (2.7% of meal) and we’ve already discovered from the front of the box that this meal is 97% fat-free, so that all stacks up.
However…
What if the formula that these companies use to calculate fat doesn’t really tell us the true story? What if it’s misleading?
When (most) companies calculate the fat percentage of their products they do so based on the weight of those products. For example, if a product weighs 100 grams and it contains 10 grams of fat, then that product is claimed to be 10% fat, or as often is the case, 90% fat-free. If we look at this particular product, we see that it weighs 340 grams and that it contains 9.2 grams of fat – therefore we have a meal which is only 2.7% fat. Or do we?
Now, if the weight of food was the issue (in terms of it’s impact on our body) then they would be right, but when it comes to you or I gaining or losing body-fat, it ain’t about the weight of food we put in our body, it’s about it’s energy density – how many calories that product contains. If it was only about the weight of food, I’d have to give up watermelon ’cause it’s kinda heavy!!
What we need to know to accurately estimate the fat percentage of any food (and therefore it’s potential impact on us) is this:
1. Total calories contained in that meal or product
2. How many of those (total) calories come from fat.
Simply calculate the fat calories as a percentage of the total calories and then you’ll get an accurate picture of whether a product truly is low in fat. For example:
The above ‘low-fat’ meal contains a total of 378 calories and we know that it contains 9.2 grams of fat (the nutrition label gives us this info). We also know that one gram of fat contains 9 calories (well, you do now), so by simply multiplying 9.2 (the total grams of fat in this meal) by 9 (the calories per gram of fat) we can calculate that 82.8 of the total calories in this meal come from fat!!
In other words, just under 25% of the calories in this ‘low-fat’ meal are derived from fat!!
Hmmm, no wonder they use the ‘weight’ thing as opposed to the energy density thing. It would be much harder to sell a low-fat meal that was 25% fat wouldn’t it?
Remember Grasshoppers, not everything is as it seems.
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{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
Sneaky rats. I have suspected something like this for years. Thank you for uncovering this deception.
Nice, educational post, Craig.
I just knew I was about to scroll down and see the caloric equation…
hmmm, since PIE is already taken
(and is way too caloric and could send the wrong subliminal message)
what would you call it?
()
Tami
I am so over these multi-nationals and their false claims. Why can’t we get some government intervention to help us understand what is really in these products. As a mother of four children I am doing everthing I can to feed my children right. But these nutritional labels are clearly misleading.
The labels are grossly and absolutely misleading! We all love the convenience products at least some of the time. Keeping up with an active and hungry family while feeding them nutriously is definitely a challenge these days.
Could we, however, count on the government with all of its obnoxiously wealthy lobbyists to give us a truly healthy evaluation here? My guess is, “NOT!”
Applaud the folks that are writing and sharing their knowledge as in this blog. Their true care and concern for others is evident. Thank you for the post.
Wow, that’s an eye-opener. I never realized that they calculated that percentage based on weight. That’s sneaky. Fat is very dense in terms of calories. I just falsely assumed that they were talking about calories… but then again, I don’t buy those things so it doesn’t really affect me.
In terms of weight-loss though, this product will still help, if indeed this is all you eat for that one meal – 378 calories, not that much at all. I think the fat percentage calculated in calories has more to do with people watching out for heart conditions, etc. cuz the overall calories of the whole meal isn’t exactly huge.
Apparently I am also being the educated today, not wearing the entertainer hat.
This is a microcosm for life, I think. Hopefully, most people can be trusted to be up front, but many are NOT as advertised! It can be difficult to walk the fine line between trust (bordering on stupidity) and discernment (bordering on suspicion.) It takes making a lot of mistakes to find that fine line!
Thanks for this post Craig – Fantastic..a bit like lifting the corporate veil isnt it… and I always thought the problem with those products (apart from the cost)was the total lack of nutritional value and inclusions like trans fats, artificial sweetners etc designed to completely ruin ones metabolism. Clearly this constitutes a breach of the Trade Practices Act (misleading and deceptive conduct designed to rip off consumers) … It shouldnt be allowed, no seriously
. Unfortunately programs like ‘You are what you eat’ don’t focus too much on these products, no doubt because the diet companies (akin to drug pushers)responsible for the production of this food (and I use the term loosely) may take offence and and swipe the protaganist. So Craig, thanks for being brave enough to say it like it is. We need more people doing just that.
SL
I always look at the total kjs as well. (and as an aside it’s scary what’s in a “normal” frozen meal), but my question is….
what guildelines should we be following?
miss jojo
Hi Craig,
Thanks for the great post, i have been ranting and raving about this for weeks and weeks. I was trying to lose my baby weight for about a year (a knee reconstruction didn’t help:P) and wasn’t getting anywhere with my low fat frozen meals and diet (i call it bloating) coke. I couldn’t understand it and I’m thinking I wasn’t the only one. I changed everything to fresh and home made and with a heck of a lot of exercise i lost 23kgs in a very short period of time compared to the results of my ‘I’m on a diet’ stage. I’m not finished with this weight change but I’m glad I changed from those nasty meals that claimed to be a healthy lean choice! These companies are high on the profit and very low on the ethics!
Sorry bout the rant
Kelly
Adelaide
I was going to say it is very sneaky too – deceptive and misleading but within the law no doubt. They know all the loop holes.
I am very surprised – I didn’t figure these were so bad. As for convenience I guess they are lower in fat than many takeaway varieties.
Thanks for opening my eyes and I will save my money in future.
This is so very true re: processed food labels, from everything like “sugar-free” to “zero trans fat”. We have to read the teeny tiny print because the processed food manufacturers are not looking out for our health.
You’re welcome Kellie.
Hi Tam.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Not sure what I’d call it.
( )
Yep, it’s tough Kay but that’s why we need to educate ourselves.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Lynn.
You’re welcome. Enjoy your day/evening.
Hey Kel… did I just get a glimpse of you being sensible?
Careful, you’ll create a precedent!
Hi Kristi.
Thanks for dropping by and thanks for sharing some of your words of wisdom.
Hi SL.
You’re welcome.
Cheers.
Hi Miss jojo.
To be honest there are NO ‘best’guidelines. You need to find out what works for you – best way to discover this is to keep a dairy for a while. It’s a matter of getting enough micro and macro nutrients for health without ingesting an excess of energy (cals).
For eg. What will be a perfect diet for my buddy will make me fat (that’s true by the way).
Hi Kelly.
Feel free to purge anytime!!
Great work with your weight loss.
Peace.
You are welcome baby~amore.
( )
Hi Jolynn.
Thanks for dropping by.
This is an AWESOME example of effective marketing (and also an AWESOME example of telling the truth about something that doesn’t matter at all and conveniently leaving out what does matter. Would you say “They” are preying on our ignorance?)
This is a great article, Craig. Very easy to understand and makes great sense.
I also like how you’ve illustrated what is truly low fat without actually saying so (and it’s quite a lovely Red Delicious apple at that!).
Fabbo article and example. Great to show how misleading advertising is!
Prob the 9.2g of fat occasionally in my main meal wouldn’t bother me but the sodium content, lack of greens and perservatives would.
Day 17/366 now!
Pip
I’ve never looked at it like that but people definitely get too hung up on one aspect of food – low fat, low gi, low carbs or whatever.
A friend who works in marketing told me something interesting about the Heart Foundation tick. Companies have to pay a lot to use it. That means if say you producted a yoghurt that was moderately healthy, good enough to qualify for the tick, and had the resources to pay while I produced a much healthier yoghurt but didn’t pay for it a lot of consumers would think your yoghurt is healthier.
Before that, I thought they just gave it to the best products. It’s definitely worth reading labels or even better, eating fresh, unprocessed food
Hey Craig,
Great post – quick question – working off your calculations, which are a real eye opener, what percentage of fat per meal is considered as acceptable in terms of either weight loss or simply a healthy lifestyle?
Cheers Cheryl
Craig, thanks for this information. I have been reading labels for a few years now since I have a problem with blood sugar levels. Anything over 15 grams of carbs is going to send my blood sugar levels too high. I am allergic to corn which means I check labels for corn starch, corn syrup and high frustose corn syrup as well as corn. Sugar free labels, at least in the USA are not reliable either. Any ingredient ending is the letters “ose” is a sugar—frustose, maltose and a number of others. My body also doesn’t know the difference between sugar, Sugar Twin, Splenda, Sweet ‘N Low or Nutrisweet. They all send my blood sugar too high. Fruit is better than fruit juice which is very high in sugar. Natural sugar is still sugar as far as the body knows. Fruit gives you fiber that slows down its absorption which you don’t get with fruit juice. Salt is another thing that you find in high content in a lot of foods, especially so-called healthy TV dinners. It really pays to read labels so that you know what you are eating. I have been a vegetarian for about 10 years and have been thinking about adding more raw foods to my diet next.
Great educational post, Craig! The companies who market this stuff are sneaky as can be. It takes time to read the fine print when shopping, but it’s worth it if a person wants to avoid the extra fat and calories. The other deceptive thing some companies do is to list deceptively low nutritional numbers for a much smaller portion size than is actually contained in what’s sold as a single serving package. So it’s smart to pay attention to that, too. Buyer/eater/drinker beware! Of course, the more fresh ingredients vs. pre-packaged food we eat, the more this issue can be avoided. It takes a bit of extra time to do that, but the quality of food is much, much better that way, too. Our health and well-being is worth the investment!
Ya know…
the more I think about it,
the more I wish the weight of your food would link to weight it could add…
Then cotton candy and whipped cream would be my staples!
Too bad for you though cheesecake is so dense…
Howabout the Caloric equation…
Hey, its better than like the Craigratic equation!
()
Tami
Honestly, you have to bring your calculator to the grocery store just to be able to decipher what truly is going on with fat, calories, etc. How about some truth in advertising, eh?
hi craig,
have just started subscribing to your articles they are really great and so down to earth…anyway this low fat stuff…makes me laugh now…i have changed my lifestyle of eating..donna aston helped me lol…but again its like the no/low fat yoghurt…full of sugar instead of fat!!! i cant wait for the majority of the population to wake up to the misleading information…eat natural food people!!!
michelle
Hi Tshombe.
Thanks for dropping by Man.
Cheers.
You’re right Pip… the sodium in those foods is crazy.
Hug.
I’m pretty sure you’re right about the tick Kathryn. Weird huh? Thanks for dropping by.
Peace.
Hi Cheryl.
I don’t really want to give ‘an exact figure’ because fat needs (yes we need it) vary from person to person (based on age, weight, activity levels, etc.) but I personally wouldn’t want a diet where more than 20% of the cals came from fat.
Cheers.
Hi Patricia.
Thanks for sharing some of your experience with us.
This quote is really interesting:
“My body also doesn’t know the difference between sugar, Sugar Twin, Splenda, Sweet ‘N Low or Nutrisweet. “
Wow, products with no sugar raising your blood sugar – that’s interesting.
Cheers.
All good advice Jackie – thanks ( )
Hi Tam.
“Then cotton candy and whipped cream would be my staples!”
And you’d really enjoy those three remaining teeth!!
( )
Hey Mama Cooks…. yep truth is always good – sadly not that common though in the commercial world!
Peace.
Hi Michelle – natural food?????
Weirdo!
LOL.
Yep, if we all ate fresh, natural foods.. I wouldn’t have to write this stuff!!
Thanks for saying hi.
Hi Batman,
Did you get your book reviewers???
I’d like to offer my services.
Matt
Loved it too Craig, keep it coming.
As you know by now probably, I read all your posts via e-mail but don’t come over to often to comment. This time I will since you asked so nicely LOL.
One of my gripes with this mass produced food is the use of numerical codes to describe additives. Foodstandards Australia has a website and a list of the codes and the actual ingredients can be downloaded.
Researching the additives can be a real opener.
Lastly, “Healthy Frozen Meals” seem as sensible as Diet Coke with added Vitamins and Minerals.
Cheers
Wow Craig the sneaky devils.
And yet, they still get the heart foundation tick?. How do they manage that one?
It makes me wonder about other food which has the tick on it now.
Thanks for opening my eyes
When my GP found I had high blood pressure, I was sent off to a cardiologist (who found it was perfectly normal. I put it down to my GP being an attractive woman, while the specialist was a bloke) and a nutritionist to look at how I was eating. Yeah, I could eat better, but so long as I’m not having too much take away what I eat isn’t too bad. But one thing she pointed out was salt.
A lot of the low fat meals put in a heap of salt to make up for the lack of delicious fat. 1,500 and 2,400 mg of sodium is apparently the recommended daily intake. You’re already hitting half of that with the added salt in that one meal. You get a lot of it naturally in foods already. The salt in these meals will give you a heart attack long before the fat becomes a problem.