Carb Carnival - Low Carbohydrates

Low Carbohydrates

Labeling and Foods with Low Carbohydrates

When you are counting carbs, it's important to know the exact number of carbs in the food you eat. That's why it's so important for food labels to be correct. But it may surprise you to know that the FDA isn't very strict when it comes to labeling on foods with low carbohydrates. For instance, if a food has 0.4 grams of carbs per serving, the manufacturer is allowed to round to the next nearest tenth of a number, so they can list the total carbs at 0. (If it were .5 or more, they could round up to 1 gram, but since low carbohydrate diets are all the rage, why would they want to do that? Here are a couple of other things to look for when checking out the labels of foods with low carbohydrates:

Adding a low carbohydrates label to a food that's already naturally low in carbohydrates, as if that's some new feature. That's just a marketing scheme used to sell more products.
Speaking of marketing schemes, some foods that have low carbohydrates are now listing "Net Carbs" which in most cases is the total amount of carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols.

More on Net Carbs

Since low carbohydrate diets are based on the fact that some carbs will cause and increase in your body's blood glucose levels while others don't (like fiber and sugar alcohols). The ones that don't are called "net impact" carbs. Your body can't metabolize these, so they don't count in your total carb intake. So when you see "net carbs" on foods that have low carbohydrates, know that it's the total count minus fiber and sugar alcohols.