Here is an eye opener. I assume this is the case with things like cool whip too.



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Fats are triglycerides. Some margarines claiming to have no fat contain monoglycerides and diglycerides as primary ingredients. Chemically, all these glycerides are esters of glycerol and fatty acids which are metabolized in exactly the same way. Monoglycerides and diglycerides, like normal fats, also have 9 Calories per gram, but there are no regulations about reporting them as fats because they are used sometimes as emulsifiers that do not contribute significantly to the total calories. Furthermore, if monoglycerides and diglycerides are not considered "fat", then information about the saturation of their fatty acid components is omitted from the nutrition label.

This particular example shows the creative ways in which manufacturers exploit loopholes in the "Nutrition Facts" regulations to make ludicrous claims. Looking at the ingredients of Promise® Fat Free Nonfat Margarine we see that the first five ingredients are "water, vegetable mono- and diglycerides*, salt, rice starch, gelatin". Water and salt, of course, have no calories. The monoglycerides and diglycerides are not fat by the strict definition of fat, although the asterisk has a footnote that says that this ingredient "adds a negligible amount of fat", meaning triglycerides. The weight of the monoglycerides and diglycerides (and their Calories) are ignored because there is no reporting requirement. One serving of 14 grams has less than 0.5 grams of each: fat (triglycerides), carbohydrate (rice starch), and protein (gelatin). Therefore, all the values may be rounded to zero! Look at the Nutrition Facts: Total Fat 0g, Total Carbohydrate 0g, Protein 0g. A serving of 14 grams only has 5 reported Calories. Amazing!

We don't know the proportions of water and mono- and diglycerides, but we can make some estimates. We can assume that each serving has 0.4 grams of rice starch and 0.4 grams of gelatin because greater amounts would not produce zeros on the Nutrition Facts. These two ingredients have about 3 Calories. An additional 0.2 grams of triglycerides ("a negligible amount of fat") would supply the other 2 Calories. Added together, these ingredients have the 5 calories per serving reported on the Nutrition Facts. Let us now assume that a serving has 0.5 grams of flavorings, colors, and all other minor ingredients with no calories. Thus far, we have accounted for 1.5 grams of the 14-gram serving size. The remaining 12.5 grams are water and mono- and diglycerides, but in what proportion? Since water is the major ingredient, the weight of water has to be greater than the weight of glycerides, but if the proportion of water is too high, the product would be liquid rather than spreadable. Experience with cake frostings suggests that equal weights of water and butter can produce stable emulsions. If a serving has approximately 6.3 grams of water, the remaining 6.2 grams are mono- and diglycerides with 56 Calories that are not reported on the Nutrition Facts. So, a serving really has 61 Calories. The mono- and diglycerides constitute 44% of the weight of the product and are responsible for 92% of the calories, but on a technicality they remain hidden from the consumer. A high-fat food is passed off as a low-calorie food. Isn't this malevolently crafty? It is a very cruel joke played on people who count calories trying to lose weight.

This misinformation fools consumers and also organizations like the American Heart Association that certify products for nutritional content. To be certified by the AHA, a product serving must: 1) be low fat (less than or equal to 3 grams), 2) be low saturated fat (less than or equal to 1 gram), 3) be low cholesterol (less than or equal to 20 milligrams), 4) have a sodium value of less than or equal to 480 milligrams for individual foods, 5) contain at least 10 percent of the Daily Value of one or more of these naturally occurring nutrients: protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron or dietary fiber. If fatty acid glycerides were counted as "fat", which they really are, the product would not qualify for certification even if the product had only half of the glycerides estimated above. But this margarine has the AHA heart check mark and was listed on the AHA web site as certified as of December 2003.

It is no wonder that we get fat. We don't get accurate nutrition information from the manufacturers. To close this loophole, the Food and Drug Administration should define "total fat" to include all esters of glycerol and fatty acids that contribute at least five calories per serving. This definition would encompass monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, phospholipids and other lipids that contribute significantly to the total calories. The way things stand we don't know whether the fatty acids in a major ingredient of the product are saturated or unsaturated. The new definition would get rid of some of the zeros in the saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated subcategories of fat, and we would get a better idea of what we are eating. The American Heart Association should not rely on the analysis provided by the manufacturer, but should run independent tests before granting a certification.


http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/labels.html