The labels on
food give us information that we need and give us the information that the
manufacturer wants you to have. For
instance, you might be trying to watch your animal fat intake, you know,
cutting back on saturated fats. If you are looking to use ground beef in your
meal, you might gravitate to the more lean packages. They are usually numbered 73/27,
75/25, 80/20, 85/15, 90/10, 93/7, 95/5 and 96/4. The first number is the amount
of lean meat by weight in percentage, the second number is the amount of fat by weight in percentage. 73/27 would be 73% lean meat and 27% fat.
So, armed with that knowledge, you would
definitely go with the package that shouts out, “I’m 90% fat free.” You even
select the ground sirloin. You walk away confidently knowing that you picked
the one that was 90% lean. You would have gone with the 96% lean but you know
that the flavor is in the fat, so you compromise at 10%.
The numbers may vary
slightly, but a serving of 90/10 natural ground beef sirloin weighs 4 ounces or
112 grams. Total calories for this serving is 200. The amount from fat is 100.
Cool, the amount of fat is just 50% of the calories. Wait a minute, that’s half!!
I thought this was 90% fat free? Shouldn’t it be 20 calories from fat, I mean
that’s 10%, right? How does that work? Half the calories are fat. Let’s check
the label. The total amount of fat by weight is 11 grams. Okay, 11 is 10% of
112. But I thought I was being good. 11 grams of fat is 17% of the Daily Value
of a diet based on 2000 calories. Of this fat, 4.5 grams is saturated fat or
23% of the Daily Value. But it is very low sodium and it has 22 grams of
protein.
At least, you
think, I drink 2% milk. I mean, that’s a lot better than whole milk right? It’s
98% fat free, how can that be bad. It’s
a good choice. It’s low fat. At least I think so. Let’s look at the label.
Again, the numbers may vary slightly. The serving size for 2% milk is 1 cup
(240ml, or 244 grams). The total calories is 130. The calories from fat is just
45. Hey, that means that 35% of the calories come from fat. The total fat is 5
grams, and that is 2% of 244 grams. It has 15% of the Daily Value of Saturated
Fat, 3 grams.
Whole milk is
about 47% of calories from fat. However, fat free milk is actually fat free. There
are many alternatives to cow’s milk. There are nut milks, soy milk, hemp milk
as well as combination milks such as Coconut Almond milk. Some of them are
quite good, especially if you wish or must avoid dairy.
Marketers use
fat by weight for their labels. This is how they can claim such low fat content
even though fat might make up a substantial amount of the calories. It is easy
to be captivated by the claims on the packaging. Check the label. If you are
trying to limit your fat intake, you may want to use a calculator to figure out
the percentage of fat that is coming from your foods. Be warned that the
information is on the label, it just isn’t necessarily easy to read.
Fat is not bad,
but you may want to watch your total intake of saturated fat. Certain saturated
fats, such as coconut and avocado are very good for you, much better than
animal fats. I still eat meat, but I use it now more for flavoring.
If you are concerned about where your calories are coming from, read the label. Do not trust the marketing on the package. The package is designed to attract your interest and prompt you to buy the product. You may still buy the product, but now you can arm yourself with the information you need before you consume it. Good health and a great life to you.