That "Hidden Carb Calculator" tool is neat BUT why is the result so often vastly different from what the package says? A good example is Flax-0-Meal, (the very product that sponsors the calculator): My bag of butter pecan proclams that each serving has 2 effective grams of carbohydrate; OK, but when I run the numbers through the Hidden Carb Calculator it tells me that each serving has 12.8 grams of carbohydrate!!! That's not double, or even three times, but 640% more than what the company says.

So when I have my delicious half cup of Flax-O-Meal this morning, what do I put on my daily log of carbos: 2? or 12.8?
Hmmmm? Big, big difference there. I know that this is a fine and reputable company, just as Keto and Atkins, yet all of their products never pass the "Hidden Carb Counter" test, all showing vastly more carbohydrates than claimed on the labels.
I cannot believe that they are trying to deceive us. Yet the other conclusion, that the "Hidden Carb Counter" is wrong, is equally distasteful.

I would very much like to know what others do in this case. When you make a "2 g" Keto Chocolate shake, do you count it as 2 grams or as the 13.7 that the "Hidden Carb Counter" shows it really has?????? etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. phil

I have never used this but just ran my jar of peanut butter through it and it's telling me that there is double the amount of carbohydrates then the label on the jar specifies.....

Does it subtract the 10 grams of fiber? Just curious. Also, where do you find this "hidden carb counter?" I'd like to take a look at it...


Shelly

The hidden carbs tooll gives different numbers simply because it's more accurate.

Manufacturers can round numbers, subtract what they think isn't digestible, not just fiber, and they can also make mistakes.

Even with peanut butter, take identical sizes of different brands, they each will give different numbers on the label.

Here's the link:

http://www.lowcarb.ca/low-carb-tools/hidden_carbs.html

Wa'il

I for one, don't think that hidden carb counter is very accurate. I have here Laura Scudder's peanut butter, all natural - just peanuts and salt.

Here is the breakdown:

200 calories a serving (2 Tbsp.)
16g fat (16 x 9=144)
8g Protein (8 x 4 =32)
6g carb (6 x 4 = 24)
Dietary Fiber 2g
144+32+24 = 200

Now, if I don't subtract the fiber, the "hidden carb counter" tells me there are 9.38g of carbs and if I do subtract, there are 7.38 of carbs. Sorry, does not compute if the calorie/fat grams/protein grams count are correct...

And as for my Flax O Meal? Don't even get me started on what the carb counter told me, but, Phil, it never came out at 12-13 grams like your's did. Instead it was like -1.38.

Whatever...

-Shelly

If it's not accurate, then let's fix it. It's quite easy for me to update it, but we need to be really sure it's not accurate. Let's take a look:


First: these counts are too rounded. Exactly 16g fat? Not 16.4, or 15.5? It is unnatural to have perfectly rounded numbers like those, just doesn't happen that often. Manufacturers in the U.S. are allowed to round the numbers like that. Same in Canada, but 0.1 increments.

Second: This count assumes fat has exactly 9 calories (false), carbs and protein at 4 calories (also false). For nuts, Fat has 8.37 calories, carbs 4.06 calories, protein 3.47286 calories.

The above numbers are obtained from the USDA from lab tests, not manufacturer's claims

Wa'il

Rightly so, but it is not going to make an almost 4 grams of carbs difference, not with peanut butter that has no added anything. And what about Phil's Flax O Meal carb count? Here are the stats for my cinnamon and spice Flax O Meal:

Per 1/2 cup per serving:

Calories 127

Total Fat 5.5 grams (45 calories)
Protein 11 grams (APPROX 44 calories)
Carbs 11 grams (APPROX 44 calories)
10 grams Fiber

When I put this into the hidden carb counter, it comes back with .41 grams of effective carbs, not too far off. Wonder what Phil inputted to get that number?

Shelly

I get a difference of 1.43 carbs, when fiber is subtracted:

http://www.lowcarb.ca/low-carb-tool....x=9&search.y=6

Rounding of 0.5 grams of fat cause a difference of about 4 calories. Rounding 0.9, yields about 8 calories deficit (or 2 grams carbs). Plus the possibility of errors (on the label).

Wa'il

Hi All !
This is what I put into the Hidden Carb Inspector for FlaxOmeal Butter Pecan:
calories 149
fat 7g
protein 11g
carbohydrates 12g
fiber 10g

I use the "nuts and seeds" setting since flax is a seed, right?
Also I did not check the box indicating that the fiber was already subtracted since it is not.

OK, I just did it again and got "Actual Carb Count 12.85"

How did you guys get those tiny results? I very much want you to be right and for me to be doing something wrong since flaxOmeal and those KEto shakes are a bright spot in my day.

Dear ShellyF34,
You got a Negative number? Wow, now that is the kind of product I want in MY diet! Would you mind telling me how you got that result for my dearly beloved flaxOmeal?

I would have sent you a private email but I'm not allowed to do that yet. Thanks again to everyone for taking time to respond to my concern.

Your LoCarb buddy. phil C

Hi Phil,

It appears the Flaxo label you have is different than the one Shelly has, maybe they are different flavours?

They way you entered it is correct and I got 12.85 as well. This is only a difference of 0.85 from the label. Not bad at all, considering the rounded number.

Wa'il

Ah HA!

I think I see a pattern here. Apparently the reason I am getting such high "Actual Carb" counts is that I do not check off the little box to the left of the fiber line.

The instructions say"
Only fill this out, if the manufacturer stated that the fiber was subtracted before calculating the calorie/energy value of the food, and is not included in the carbs listed

Since it appeared that FlaxOmeal DID include the fiber in the total calorie count, I've been leaving the box empty and putting in the amount of fiber. How 'bout it moderator, have I been doing it wrong? phil C

Tamarian,
Ah Ha! again. I think you have helped me finally solve the problem. I was assuming that the Hidden Carb Inspector subtracted out the fiber before giving out an Actual CArb Count. The one we should use in our carb count for the day. From your answer, it obvously does not, it just gives a very good estimate of the true number of carbs in a product. It is up to us to subtract out the fiber if we want to to reach a final count.

As a side note, from reading some of the previous posts, it might appear that some people are indeed putting an X in that little box and therefore gettting those small or negative results.
Thanks again. I can now eat my FlaxOmeal with a calm heart.
phil c

Very likely. That's why I added the tiny print to only click the fiber field if you know the manufacturer already subtracted the fiber for you.

If there's a better way to word it, and make it easier to figure out, I'm open for suggestions.

Wa'il

You can also get negative amounts due to rounding in the label.

For instance, let's use a hypothetical class of food that actually follows the 9-4-4 rule. If the product actually has 10.5 grams of fat and 7.5 grams of protein the total calories would be 124.5. So the manufacturer might label this as 11g of fat and 8g of protein and 120 calories. Using those numbers the carb calculator would come up with a carb count of -2.75g.

Because of the rounding in the label data, I think the carb calculator is really only useful in identifying foods that truly have hidden carbs - ingredients that the manufacurer is intentionally leaving out of the carb count. If the calculator says that the food has a couple more or a couple fewer carbs than the label, assume the label is correct or take the count from which ever one is higher. The impact will be minimal either way. But if the carb calculator is saying that the food has tens of carbs more than the label says, then you know that it has truly hidden carbs in it and must consider whether to eat it much more carefully.