Counting calories can be an effective component to your weight loss program. But if you’re calorie counting and eating out or buy frozen food you may want to consider this when you do your math. Researchers have found some notable calories discrepancies between what’s given out on health fact sheets and what independent lab tests discover.
The results of an American Diabetic Association study showed that items can be considerably higher in calories then what is reported. When researchers tested the food served in 29 chain restaurants and 10 frozen meals sold in supermarkets, they found that their calorie content averaged considerably more than the stated values. The average variance was 18%. That means more calories than listed For their survey, the researchers selected typical American foods that the menus said were under 500 calories. The supermarket samples were frozen complete meals that could be considered an alternative to eating out.
A package of Lean Cuisine shrimp and angel-hair pasta was listed as 220 calories but, their research concluded that it actually came in at 319. Over at Wendy’s they tested a grilled chicken sandwich which was promised to have 260 calories but proved to contain 344. Some of the disparities were startling. At Denny’s, a serving of grits, reported as 80 calories, tested at 258.
There were some restaurant menu items did come in under their advertised calorie counts, but that was rare. Only fifteen of the samples had fewer calories than reported. A dry English muffin, at Denny’s, had 6% less calories than listed on the menu. A piece of thin-crust cheese pizza at Domino’s was listed at 180 calories, but only had 141.
A few even admitted their dishes contained more calories than listed. The variations were within the 20 percent margin the Food and Drug Administration allows for packaged food. The FDA does not specify maximum overage for restaurant meals.
Frozen meal makers play it safe with the content in their packages. The can face stiff penalties if their products are found to be underweight so the tend to be cautious and tend to err on the side of heavier portions.
Anyone who counts calories by using the figures on menus in fast-food restaurants or on the packages of frozen meals may want to count again.
This means that you will have to keep this in mind if you find your diet is failing you. If you are not losing weight you may have to cut your calories by 20 percent. If you are losing weight then congratulations keep doing what you are doing you are on the right track.
