how do they come up with Nutrition Facts on products? (ingredients, organic)

[Angorlee]

For instance they will give a dietary fiber of 2g(or whatever) and total fat of 6g etc. How do they test each and every product in a grocery store. Yes, I know that the store doesn't do the testing. I assume the company that makes the product does. And how do you know that they are telling the truth? Does anyone check out their products to make sure its true?

[dclamb3]

Originally Posted by Angorlee

For instance they will give a dietary fiber of 2g(or whatever) and total fat of 6g etc. How do they test each and every product in a grocery store. Yes, I know that the store doesn't do the testing. I assume the company that makes the product does. And how do you know that they are telling the truth? Does anyone check out their products to make sure its true?

The manufacturer is required to supply nutrition information for their products. They are only required to be accurate within a 22% range, if I remember the number correctly (I recall it being very high for what I would consider acceptable, but I'm sure Google can help you with the exact percentage). The FDA has come under fire many times for not being more stringent in checking the accuracy of labels. Google is peppered with articles that are filled with the details, if that interests you.

You may find this FDA link helpful:
Labeling & Nutrition

And this FDA link shows their labeling guidelines (notice the answer regarding rounding numbers up or down):
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComp.../ucm064894.htm

And this FDA link shows things such as the FDA's requirements for labeling something "fresh", etc. (very telling):
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/...eets/index.asp

As for other food labeling such as multi-grain, gluten-free, organic, decaf, fat free, natural, vegan, etc., those could each be their own topic. But just as an example, "gluten-free" products can actually contain gluten, it just has to be below a certain percentage (tell that to the person who has a gluten intolerance - the last I checked, being "free" of something meant being without - but I digress).

And it was recently reported that meat manufacturers will soon be encouraged to supply more information on their packaging regarding the source of their product. That doesn't affect me, but it is an interesting development in the food labeling industry.

My personal rule of thumb: anything on a label, even the nutrition breakdown and list of ingredients, is marketing. The only way to know what's going in your body is to make it yourself. A pear, is a pear, is a pear. You know what's in that.