I bought some "Keto-Ice Cream" a few days ago, and I have been since questioning the trustworthiness of its Nutritional Facts. I would like some help to decipher them, as there is either something I am missing, or they are simply wrong.
First, these are the ingredients as written in the packaging (in the same order).
Cocoa Ice Cream: Water, Erythritol, Polydextrose, Low-fat Cocoa Powder (7%), Sunflower Oil, Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Sunflower Lecithin.
And this is the corresponding Nutritional Table (both for 100g of product).
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Energy | 34Kcal |
| Fat | 6g |
| – of which Saturated | 1.3g |
| Protein | 10g |
| Carbohydrates | 15g |
| – of which sugars | <0.5g |
| – of which polyols | 13.5g |
| Fiber | 11g |
Looking at these, I think that at least one of the following statements is correct:
- The ingredients are wrong (either in their order, or in the actual items)
- The Energy (KCal) is wrong
- The macronutrients values are wrong
MY QUESTIONS:
- How is the reported "Energy" value possible with the given macronutrients?
- Looking at the ingredients, how are the reported macronutrients values possible?
For instance, the nutritional facts reports 6g of fat, and since 1g of fat = 9Kcal, then this macronutrient alone should provide 54KCal, which is already above the reported value (34 KCal). I even question the validity of 6g of fats in the finished product by going over the ingredients: the only ingredients in that list that contain fat are the cocoa powder (which only amounts to 7% of the finished product, and low-fat cocoa powder has less than 20% fat) and the sunflower oil (which, being mentioned AFTER the cocoa powder, must be less than 7% of the whole product despite being 100% fat). Hence, unless the Sunflower Oil represents, say, 6% of the product, then I do not understand how it is possible for the finished product to have 6g of fat.
The same can be said for the Protein value: 10g of protein=40KCal>34KCal. And how are 10g of protein possible from those ingredients?
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS assuming that either the nutritional table or the ingredient list are wrong:
- what should be a (possible) Nutritional Table if the ingredients are correct?
- what should be the (possible) ingredients list if the Nutritional Table is correct?
Best Answer
Your interpretation of the label is right, and so is your conclusion: the information of the label is internally inconsistent. The given calorie count is incompatible with the given nutrient composition.
From here, no other conclusions can be made, and your further subquestions are unanswerable. Any part of the information given could be wrong, and there is no way to say which one.