Comments on: The perils of interpreting food composition

By: sodiumgirl

sodiumgirl — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:23:23 +0000

Marion – thank you so much. I just caught your answer to my question and I have become even more resolute to stick to whole foods that I make at home. I do like that USDA site, though, as a foundation of making my dietary decisions safely and in an educated manner (or at least as educated as I can).

All thebest

By: January Links at 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera

January Links at 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:34:18 +0000

[...] I’m easily confused. But Marion Nestle often comes to my rescue, and this time, it’s with instructions for navigating the USDA’s nutrition [...]

By: Cathy Richards

Cathy Richards — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:29:17 +0000

Lab verified nutrition labels would be more accurate, but making it mandatory would be beyond the financial capacity of small local food producers and so would give the multinationals even more of an edge over innovative local and perhaps healthier products = something none of us want to see.

It’s indeed a difficult issue.

By: Melissa Bastian

Melissa Bastian — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:09:31 +0000

“(2) food companies know quite well what is in their products but they won’t give the USDA any information about nutrient composition beyond what is on the food label; they consider that information “proprietary” and don’t have to.”

That this is legal says so much.

By: annie

annie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:30:55 +0000

i will continue to insist that there is a vast difference between what is called “salt” i.e. table salt, iodized salt, etc. and what salt was before we killed it with over-processing. in my opinion, the dirtier the salt, the healthier it is for me, including all those necessary trace minerals my body requires. i do not trust any “salt” product whose ingredients include any form of sugar…. the easier it pours, the more likely i am to avoid it.

By: Florida Vegan

Florida Vegan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:11:49 +0000

My journey is going over two years as a vegan and vegetarian 20+years. The last few years is when I decided to gather knowledge about what I’m really eating, how it gets onto my plate and what it does to the planet. The horrid life of 97% of the animals we keep captive made my decision to go vegan very very easy. For me, responsibility is the action that follows knowing. Your book and blog is one of the many books I’ve read over the past few years and suggest others read it as well. Thank you for keeping a blog with articles and updates.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:07:20 +0000

For being in its 22nd release, the USDA ARS database is still quite limited. A policy initiative mandating that companies either lab verified nutrition information for all SKU’s or fund USDA lab work would reduce the burden on this currently underfunded lab and make the database more useful for the target demographic (which I would assume is all U.S. citizens, at least those that eat).

By: Cathy Richards

Cathy Richards — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:14:09 +0000

Always read nutrition labels “with a grain of salt” and a jaundiced eye. In my life, and my work with hospitals, schools, and vending machine operators, I frequently see nutrtion facts labels that I know are wrong.

Eg. nuts with salt in the ingredient list, but the sodium is declared as 2 mg per 1/4 cup serving? A salted snack product whose nutrition label claims 23 mg of sodium, but whose on-line nutrition information says 1000 mg for the same portion size? A blueberry cheesecake that claims 0 g of sugar, and lists ingredients for an entirely different product?

I always alert our food inspection agency when I see these discrepancies. They can’t monitor everything on their own.

Marion has good advice. It’s hard to go wrong with unprocessed food that you prepare yourself.

By: Organic Grocer

Organic Grocer — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:27:33 +0000

Mom of Two: In his latest book, “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made us Human,” Harvard Primatologist Richard Wrangham argues that cooking foods changes the available nutrient content and actually raises the available calories.

Listen to an interview with him on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112334465

Marion: Do you have thoughts on the validity of this claim?

By: Mom of Two

Mom of Two — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:34:22 +0000

I’ve been asking this question of chef friends for months without a satisfying answer — maybe now is my chance!

Does the caloric value of a food change when it’s cooked?

I know that, in many cases, the weight/volume changes — 6 oz. or 1 cup of uncooked rice is nothing at all like 6 oz./1 cup of cooked rice. I know, too, that the sugar/starch content can change. [And I understand the caveat above about wiggle room -- I don't expect the numbers to be terribly accurate for raw or cooked food.]

But if I were to weigh all my food before cooking it and use the ‘raw’ values in the USDA database, would my data be consistent once I cook it? [It's much easier to weigh raw food than cooked food.]

Any insight on this would be very welcome. Thanks.