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October 4, 2006 – How much carbohydrate is in a 1.89 liter fruit drink if each 250 milliliter serving contains 29 grams of carbohydrate?
These are the kinds of questions that have been asked by researchers1 Americans to about 200 volunteers, a third of whom had completed at least a college education. This allowed them to determine that a significant portion of the population seems incapable of understanding the nutrition labeling of the foods they consume.
Only 32% of participants, for example, were able to determine that a 1.89L format of fruit drink actually contains 219g of carbohydrate.
Study participants said they were baffled by the serving sizes on the label and the amount of information2 which are found on the packaging. This prevented them from performing the calculations correctly.
A good understanding of the nutritional information, contained on the label of food products, is very important especially for consumers struggling with cardiovascular problems, hypertension, diabetes or excess weight.
A misinterpretation of these data can indeed lead them to overestimate or minimize the amount of certain nutrients consumed, say the researchers.
They believe that doctors, nutritionists and other health professionals should explain food labels more clearly to their patients. As for the food industry and the government, they would benefit from making nutrition labeling more understandable, according to the researchers.
Simplify nutritional labeling?
The study’s authors suggest clarifying how much of a product is in a “serving”. They even go so far as to recommend removing any unnecessary information that can be confusing, such as% Daily Value.
Moreover, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States is currently studying the possibility of making changes to nutritional labeling, according to these American researchers.
In Canada, since December 2005, most prepackaged food products have displayed on their labels a standardized table setting out the nutritional value of the nutrients they contain.
Jean-Benoit Legault and Johanne Lauzon – PasseportSanté.net
According to CBC.ca and HealthDay.
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1. Rothman R et al. Patient Understanding of Food Labels: The Role of Literacy and Numeracy, Am J Prev Med 2006 (study not yet available on PubMed) [consulté le 4 octobre 2006].
2. In the United States and Canada, the label of food products displays a nutrition facts table. You can read the calorie content, the percentage of the daily value according to a 2000-calorie diet, as well as information on certain nutrients present: lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, sodium, calcium, fibers …