Comments on: Foods in the US magically become more nutritious

By: NathanM

NathanM — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 00:56:19 +0000

mmmmmmmmmmmmm.. Lychee

By: cellis

cellis — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:29:35 +0000

Correct me if I’m wrong, but having more Sodium would make this food LESS nutritious. If I had to be worried about Protein or Sodium, I would be more concerned that the Australian stats are understating the Sodium than the fact that the American stats are overstating the Protein.

By: Morten

Morten — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:20:46 +0000

I haven’t read all the text here, but it seems as if the packaging is distributed globally, but the content is made locally in each seperate country.

My guess only.

By: RC

RC — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:08:01 +0000

Averaged and rounded, too.

By: Long Zheng

Long Zheng — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 09:20:13 +0000

@RC: Of course it’s not factual. Not every can and every package contains the same portion of nutrients. It’s based off a much larger sample, purely an average anyway.

By: RC

RC — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:10:08 +0000

Gee Long, by that rationale the Australian labeling isn’t factual. Purely informational.

By: Aaron Bernstein

Aaron Bernstein — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:06:59 +0000

We Americans are stupid and can’t handle the real numbers. People want the quick and easy. Same reason we haven’t gone to the metric system. However, here’s the actual details:

(4) “Sodium”: A statement of the number of milligrams of sodium in
a specified serving of food expressed as zero when the serving contains
less than 5 milligrams of sodium, to the nearest 5-milligram increment
when the serving contains 5 to 140 milligrams of sodium, and to the
nearest 10-milligram increment when the serving contains greater than
140 milligrams.

From the US Food and Drug Admin.

However, my favorite part of these “rules” is the part (for sodium and other parts) that when it’s under a certain amount, companies can still claim zero. This gives them an opportunity to claim “fat free” or “calorie free” or “sodium free” when often this simply isn’t the case.

By: Christopher Hawkins

Christopher Hawkins — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 00:17:39 +0000

I do believe its because of the average numerical complexity the the average US Citizen can take, compared to the complexity the average Australian can take… Yes, that must be it! XD

By: Henry

Henry — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:55:03 +0000

Thats Funny,

FOR USA:

FOR AUSTRALIA:

By: Imran

Imran — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:10:16 +0000

Do u have some agency which can like check this out, why the difference ?

Some food agency?