discrepancies with food labels(chick peas)

[JeffN]

I have a pack of dry garbanzo beans and a can. the serv size on the can is 1/2 cup, 120 cal., 1 gram of fat, 22 carbs, 6 gr fiber,6 grms protien; on the dry beans the serv size is 1/4cup, 120 cals, 2.5 gr fat, 29 carbs, 14 gr fiber,8 grms protein. Why is there such a big difference? the canned ones dont have any oil or fat in the ingrident label nor in the dry label. I will be making the dry ones much more often because of the sodium content of the canned, but why the diff? When I add up the protein and fat and carbs on the can the cals make sense, but on the dry pack the cals come to about 170, not 120 like it says. Now I know that they can round down the cals on a product if it is close but that is way off. And I am not sure this even matters, I have just wondered for some time now.
Deb

P.S. I have noticed this on other canned dry beans as well.

There are many discrepancies on labels and the more you look, the more you will find. This is why avoiding packaged and processed foods is the best choice, However, regardless of these discrepancies, my guidelines will help you choose the healthiest packaged foods.

This thread on the discrepancies on canned beans, may be of help to you.

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6550

In Health
Jeff

[JeffN]

You refered to a video for label reading, do you have it in script

This article reviews the basic principles I teach in the video.

http://tinyurl.com/6xrj5p

You have not listed the ingredients, which may give a clue to the answer. However, the main issue is to focus your diet on whole natural foods & avoid packaged & processed foods. There are literally 100's if not 1000's of issues like this. If the product passes my guidelines, then the odds are extremely high that it is safe to eat.

BTW, in the article I linked above, I do explain how such a discrepancy is possible just from the allowed "rounding" of the calories, though that may not be the answer in this case.

In Health,
Jeff

[Jaggu]

Jeff,

Nice and concise article. Your article says that if the product has less than 20% of the calories from fat then it could be acceptable provided it meets the other criterion you laid out.

What that means is that according to your method one could end up eating upto 20% calories from fat. Granted that some food may have 20% CFF , other may have 15% CFF thereby making the average daily intake less than 20%. It's also possible that the daily CFF could reach in the range of 15-20%.

Does that mean you consider for e.g. 18% CFF safe for optimum health?
Do you have two recommendations as far as CFF intake is concerned?

one for those who trying to prevent any diease

and other for those who have had diease such as heart diease and trying to prevent and reverse it? I know others recommend less than 10% CFF. JUst want to know what is your take on this.

[JeffN]

Jeff,

Nice and concise article. Your article says that if the product has less than 20% of the calories from fat then it could be acceptable provided it meets the other criterion you laid out.

What that means is that according to your method one could end up eating upto 20% calories from fat.

Not if they follow all my guidelines as a total picture.

My guidelines for packaged products only mean that you can eat up to 20% calories of fat from the "packaged and processed" foods you consume. No where do I recommend that you choose products that are 20% fat. It is only the upper limit.

However, the main point I make in all my guidelines is to limit all packaged and processed foods and to focus your diet on foods they way the grow in the ground, such as fresh fruits, veggies, starchy veggies, intact whole grains, and legumes. As we know, these foods, average around 5-15% fat with most of them averaging around 5-10% fat with some as low as 1-3%

So, put together a diet that focuses mostly on foods that are 5-10% fat, and allow a few packaged foods that "may" be up to 20% fat at most, and the final diet will be anywhere between 5-10% fat, and maybe slightly more and/or maybe slightly less, depending on the individual choices.

In Health
Jeff

[JeffN]

Thank you again Jeff

Yes Jean it is a 1/4 dry 1/2 cup cooked.

zyes I know this will be a stupid question, but it is better to do with the dry beans and cook them instead of the canned beans correct? I usually use the cans as a very quick ingredient in recipes. and they are used by both McD and Essy in a lot of recipes so I assume they are okay too.

Deb

The Eden Foods, No Salt Added, Canned beans rank as one of my top 10 favorite packaged foods. I use them all the time.

In Health
Jeff