WHAT is LOW-CARB?
Finally, guilt-free chips and beer! Or maybe not. New terms and labels don't tell the whole story

By Kitty Crider

AMERICAN-STATESMAN FOOD EDITOR

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

link to article

From pancake mixes to cheesy snacks, manufacturers are rolling out hundreds of new products touting terms such as "low-carb," "effective carb" and "net carb" on their packaging. It's the big wave of dieting, a crest reminiscent of the low-fat foods phenomenon of seasons past. But there is one big difference: While the low-fat movement had a specific definition, this latest one does not.

The Food and Drug Administration does not have a standard to define low carbohydrates. Only total carb counts are required on the Nutrition Facts label.

There is a definition for low-fat, which means that a product must have 3 grams or less per serving. There's also one for low-calorie — 40 calories or less per serving.

For low-carb, confusion reigns. What are shoppers getting when they buy these products?

The short answer is savvy marketing.

Food companies have created their own dictionaries, says Gayle Frank, a Los Angeles spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "They are fashioning nutrition science to fit the demands of consumers — the words and phrases, these are designer terms to sell products. . . . This does not mean it is wrong, just a creative approach to tease the consumer and give a twist to the product to sell it."

Words such as "net" and "effective" are not misleading, says Monica Revelle, FDA spokesperson. "We do not object to those at this point."

A carbohydrate is one of the six major nutrients a body needs. It produces energy and has 4 calories per gram, the same as protein and a little less than half the calories of fat. Basically, there are two kinds of carbs — sugars (called simple carbs) and starches (called complex carbs) found in rice, pasta, breads, potatoes, corn and other vegetables.

Low-carb diets, which may limit carbs from 20 to 200 grams a day, target both starches and sugars. And it is familiar foods containing them that manufacturers are trying to create in low-carb versions — because dieters miss their pizzas and pancakes, beer and chips.

Low-carb advertised products are so popular that Central Market on North Lamar Boulevard has recently devoted two high-traffic display sections to more than 150 different ones.

"The hard thing is keeping all these things in stock," says specialty foods director Andy Burger, who projects that 10 percent of his specialty foods sales will be low-carb by the end of the year. "The low-carb definitely is outpacing everything."

Frank, who is a professor of nutrition at California State University at Long Beach, says "low-carb" pitches are a skewed look at the products. They are sexy, attention-grabbing words that people want to see. But it is essential to flip the product over and look at the Nutrition Facts panel — the total carbs and calories — as well as the ingredients list, she says.

Many of the products may claim only 1 or 2 carbs, but they are not low-calorie. For instance, a package containing two pieces of Russell Stover "low-carb" toffee squares candies advertises 0.2 grams of carbs per piece on the front of the package. On the back, in much smaller print, is the 110-calorie count. In another example, the popular Atkins Advantage diet bar claims 2 grams net carbs on the front. On the back, 240 calories.

"We are fighting the obesity battle with foods that are high in calories," Frank adds.

Such products may be fine — they're just not low-calorie, says dietitian Keith Ayood, associate professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and also a spokesman for the ADA. "The way to weigh less is to eat fewer calories and/or exercise more."

Subbing low-calorie products for higher calorie ones — whether carbs or fat — can be beneficial for weight loss. But subbing higher calorie ones that might be low in carbs is not going to help you lose weight, Ayood says. It might aid in blood sugar control and is sometimes useful for diabetics, but not for the average person, he adds.

There is still more confusion over these new products. It's the math. Some products have different carb counts on the front and the back.

The Atkins bar reads 2 grams net carbs on the front, but on the back it reads 21 total carbs. The bar says that it subtracts carb counts for fiber and glycerin, both of which have minimal impact on blood sugar.

On its Low Carb toffee squares, Russell Stover lists 0.2 grams of carbs per square on the front and 16 total carbs on the back. There it shows its math — subtracting the fiber and sugar alcohol grams. It notes in fine print that it includes only those carbs that cause a noted effect on blood sugar. That's how companies get terms like "net" and "effective."

Ayood says what some companies are doing is mainly subbing sugar alcohol for sugars. Sugar alcohols — those ". . . ol" words like sorbitol and mannitol — are the same ingredients that have been used in diabetic foods for years. They are like carbs but are absorbed more slowly.

However, there is a limit to how much people can tolerate sugar alcohols. Consuming too much can have a laxative effect, and some of the new "low-carb" products carry such cautions.

Austin dietitian Alexa Sparkman explains that diet doctors and "low-carb" food companies discount fiber and sugar alcohols because those do not spike glucose levels in the blood, which is what the Atkins Diet says causes people to store fat. That is what all this label terminology is about — not just the number of grams of carbs, but how the body uses them.

"There is a lot of controversy about this right now," says Sparkman of Sparkman & Ivester Associates. "That is why there is no standard yet."

Many of the new low-carb products also subtract dietary fiber from the total carb count but do not note what kind of fiber is in the product. There are two kinds of fiber: soluble, which is absorbed, and insoluble, which is not. But fiber is not a big quibble. In many products, the fiber content is small, less than 5 grams or 20 calories. However, it adds to the "low-carb" labeling confusion.

But still the "low-carb" products keep coming, including ice cream and beer.

"The difference between the Atkins Diet now and Atkins 30 years ago is that people are willing to spend the money to buy the products," says Sparkman, who has worked with people on low-carb diets. "They are desperate to lose the weight but not give up what they perceive they have to have."

The dietitian notes that the people who are successful in keeping weight off are those eating fewer calories, not just fewer carbs. They are rarely compulsive eaters, and they don't eat unless they are hungry.

How many carbs per day?

The National Academy of Sciences says 130 grams of carbs is the average minimum Recommended Dietary Allowance. The FDA uses 300 grams of carbs a day (remember 1 carb gram equals 4 calories) or 60 percent of the average 2,000-calorie diet on all Nutrition Facts panels on packages.

Some dietitians think a diet that is 40 percent carbs — 200 grams of 2,000 calories — is low. The Atkins Diet goes 10 times lower, recommending no more than 20 grams a day — a little more than one slice of bread — for its induction phase. Its maintenance phase is under 100 grams.

A cheesy favorite

Of the many low-carb products our tasters sampled, a crunchy snack called Just The Cheese got more thumbs up from both regular munchers and low-carb eaters. The crackers are crumbled cheese and powdered cellulose (plant fiber), baked and seasoned. Both the front label and the back match in carb count: 1 gram. No funny math needed. The 2-ounce bag is 150 calories and 13 grams fat per 1-ounce serving.

This product gives you a lot of protein and compares favorably to 2 ounces of cheese but with fewer calories, commented a dietitian. The $3.99 price, which may keep you from eating the whole 2-ounce bag by yourself, extrapolates to $32 a pound. But it has not stopped low-carb enthusiasts. The jalapeño flavor is the hot seller among the six flavors at Central Market.