Nutritional labels - why don't the numbers add up?

I'm not from NZ, so I'm not sure about why the numbers don't add to 100 g total.

However, in terms of energy (Calories):

1 gram of protein provides 4 Calories.
1 gram of carbohydrate provides 4 Calories.
1 gram of fat provides 9 Calories.

So, if you take the listed amounts:
Protein 12.4g x 4 Cals/g = 49.6 Calories
Fats 1.4g x 9 Cals/g = 12.6 Calories
Carbohydrate 67g x 4 Cals/g = 268 Calories

That comes out to a total of 330.2 Calories.

The label on the website lists the value as 356 Calories.

Hm, when I do it (in the US), my numbers usually come out closer than that.... I've never heard of Wheet-Bix, so I'm thinking this isn't a US product.

Do you have nutritional info for something like the Chickpeas? (I can get that info for a US label, but I'm curious to see if the NZ label has similar info.) Here are the US values (from the USDA nutrient database):

Chickpeas - 100 grams, canned:
Water: 69.69 g
Protein: 4.95 g
Fat: 1.14 g
Carbs: 22.61 g
Fiber: 4.4 g

So if I figure it out using the Caloric values above:
(4.95 x 4) + (1.14 x 9) + (22.61 x 4) = 120.5 Calories

And the USDA database lists the value as 119 Calories/100 grams. So that's pretty close to my calculated value.

If you want to play around with the USDA database, here's a link:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

The amount of water doesn't affect it being a "high carb" or "low carb" food.

Chickpeas would be a high carb food simply because there are 22.6 grams of carbs per serving. And that's a high percentage. (22.6%)

Consider something like a hamburger. It has 61 g of water in it per 100 grams, which is similar to the amount of water in those chickpeas... But hamburger has ZERO grams of carbs in it. (0%) In other words, it's a LOW carb food.

The amount of water doesn't determine any other value (carb or fat or protein). When those values are given, they are direct measurements of the amount of carbs. Or fat. Or protein.

In the case of milk and dairy products, the carbohydrates probably are due to the presence of sugars such as lactose.

Carbohydrates are also known as "sugars" and "saccharides." So if you have a product with lots of sugar in it, it will probably also be a "high carb" food.

Chickpeas has a lot of carbohydrate, in the form of "plant starch." (Starch is a sugar/polysaccharide/carbohydrate.)

Hamburger, on the other hand, has no sugars in it.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Biochemistry.


Edited by D001 2008-06-21 8:53 PM