“Reduced Calorie” meals are often mislabeled

Posted: Jan 12 in Nutrition by Dr. Lazarus

In case trying to lose weight wasn’t hard enough already, according to a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in the January 2010 issues, researches from Tufts University found that many commercially prepared foods contain more calories than their label indicated.
In fact, when the calories of many foods were measured at restaurants and frozen meals from the grocery, the actual meals contained 8 to 18% more calories than indicated on the label. The authors note that the US Food and Drug Administration allows up to 20% excess energy content but weight must be no less than 99% of the stated value. This might lead manufacturers to add more food to the package to insure compliance with weight standards and thereby exceed the stated energy content.
Make sure to discuss with your dietitian strategies to keep your calories under control!