hey guys.

i have a question. it seems like the bulk of the calories in pork rinds actually come from protien. the brand i have has:

4g fat
0g carb
6g protien

per serving. however, there's a little disclaimer in small print next to the protien gram count on the nutrition label that says "Not a significant source of protien." erm, 6g seems well, not INsignificant! what gives? is there some sort of amino acid missing, making the protien "incomplete?" if that's the case, why don't the protien grams on like, kidney bean cans or pita bread packages say that? or is it so pork rind manufacturers don't go creating slogans like "pork rinds: it's what's for dinner?"

thanks guys.
yerpal,

./su --Not a significant source of info

Your question intrigued me, so I went to fitday.com and checked it out. This is what I fiddled with:

Pork rinds

For 2 ounces:

Total Fat 17.84g 27%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Protein 34.94g 70%

Beef, top sirloin, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/4" fat, choice, raw

For 2 ounces:

Total Fat 9.19g 14%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Protein 10.78g 22%

Kind of makes you go 'hmmmm?' doesn't it?

Your guess is as good as mine in the "Not a significant source of protien" department!

Karen

Could it be that it's the serving size of 6g of protein that is considered 'not significant'? Those manufacturers, assuming that everyone eats just a regular 'serving'

Nat

The serving size for those pork rinds must be tiny, like 12 grams or so.

According to the Cdn. Food Inspection Agency, to rate the label "significant source of protein" .. a normal serving of a food must have equivalent to 20g protein. That's why breakfast cereals are shown on the label as dry weight (insignificant) and with milk added . The US labels are similar.

Doreen

doreen-

i get that, but see, the label doesn't attempt to claim that pork rinds are a significant source of protien. lots of foods have under 20gm protien yet don't have that label. eggs have about 6gm protien per serving, so does cottage cheese, and those are widely regarded as protien foods.

rather, the labeleling people have gone out of their way to let us know that it's NOT a significant source of protien. that's wierd, man.

i used to think i was a salt addict (as well as a sugar addict) but now i see i just must be a salty-carb addict. eating my way through a bag of pork rinds just doesn't seem to hold the same appeal as a bag of doritos or herr's salt and vinegar.

i wish they made dorito flavored pork rinds. heh.

./su

Good point Sue! So, I waded through the various clauses and statements of the CFIA labelling regulations, in regards to Nutrient Content Claims.

We see from section 6.2.2.2 just what constitutes the designation of "significant source" (which is a US term, in Canada it's called "good source" or "high in" ) .. The food doesn't necessarily contain 20 GRAMS of protein per serving, what they do is multiply the efficiency or bioavailability of the protein times the number of grams per "reasonable daily serving" of the food. There's a chart showing some examples of the Protein Ratings of various foods in section 6.4.2

Foods with a Protein Rating (PR) of 20 or more are permitted to be labelled as a "good source of" or "significant source of" ..

2 eggs are considered a "reasonable serving size' and have 12.8g protein .. and a PR of 48.6.

100g (3.5 oz) beef has 21g protein, and a PR of 67.2.

5 slices of white bread have 12.6g prot, and a PR of 12.6

If the PR of pork rinds falls below 20, the reason is most likely due to the tiny portion size as we originally thought, but not for the obvious reason

Doreen

capnsue, have you tried the barbeque flavored pork rinds? They are a tasty "change of pace" from the regular flavored ones.

seasoning. I got into trouble because i was eating bbq peanuts and stalled myself. hven't managed to move anymore in 7 weeks. read the label and if in doubt, do without. I learned my lesson!

Deb

Oh my goodness Deb, you are right!
I just read the label and sure enough there is BROWN SUGAR in the BBQ ones.

I didn't even think about that. I'm so glad you mentioned it.