O.K. This calculator, I think, is extremely useful. You may have done the hidden-carb calculation in the past to discover hidden carbs with the rounded numbers of 4 caloreis for protein and carbohydrates, and 9 for fat.

This is not accurate, however. and might be misleading. Just apply that rounded formula to your peanut butter jar label, and you may think there are less carbs than than the manufacturer stated. Not true, and it has confused me.

With this calculator, my Skippy jar came very close to accurate (within 0.1 g carbs), and some labels of "low-carb" bars turned out to be worst than I thought.

Try it out and see how your labels fare out:

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

The actual values used are displayed in the result and are based on the food category (CHO fctor, Protein factor, and Fat factor from the USDA documentation for their calculations). Once I did the calcs for peanut butter based on the "Nuts and Seeds" category, the numbers made sense.

It's not as accurate as a full lab test but much more accurate than a 4/4/9 formula.

Enjoy, and make sure to let me know if you you find any problems, bugs, or have and suggestions or recommendations.

Wa'il

Wa'il, you are so unbelievable that you must be from outer space! No mere mortal can accomplish what you have done on this site!

Low-carbers are ready to fall at your feet in adoration....

Karen

LOL! I'll be happy if members supply info to our local shopping / restaurant database

Wa'il

So did anyone use it already? Any observations? Is it confusing, too complicated, too simple, needs some spices? Does it need instructions and explations of the various protein, carb, fat factors, or is it self-explanatory?

Did the food labels you treid add up? How different were they? Hmm, I'm thinking of adding a margin check to indicate how far off the lable is.

All be adding it to our menus tomorrow, so if you have any comments, speak now or ........ speak later

Pretty straightforward for me.. .. just enter the label numbers, and submit ..I chose two items which have actually been discussion topics here.

First was Holsum Bread, which you received a sample of. They reported 5.1 gm carbs and 2.5 gm fiber. My calculations the old-fashioned way, came up with 7.6 calories unaccounted for, or 1.9 gm carbs. Supposedly the fiber has no caloric significance. Hmmmm .... Using your handy-dandy calculator was faster for this foggy brain, by the way ... and it came up with 2.1 gm carbs difference. Could the product be counting the fiber as having calories??

Next product was "todietfor" lowcarb protein shake mix. The old-fashioned way, it came up with an even count, ie, no hidden carbs. But Judi and I looked at the INGREDIENTS LIST, which showed the presence of Glucose Polymers ... and the serving size weight did not add up to the listed ingredients ..... meaning, the manufacturer wasn't declaring the glucose polymer (most likely maltodextrin) as calories or carbs .. .. I wasn't sure how to classify it for the Calculation Accuracy factor .... when I entered as Dairy, I got a negative number back, meaning fewer carbs than declared. Nah, it's got fructose in it ...... So, I entered as Beverage ... got 0.7 gm hidden carbs .... I'd guesstimated a gram previously.

IMHO, your Hidden Carb-Calculator is superb! .. .. Accurate ..... I think the makers of Atkins bars and all those "sugar free" chocolate bars and candies and ice cream ... had better watch out!!

Doreen