After reviewing this short health piece from Slate.com, you'll probably think twice about relying on labels to give you the straight scoop on the processed foods you may be endangering your life eating every day.
Instead of the old-school way of determining calories via physics (calculating the energy it takes from a food to heat a gram of water multiplied by 1,000), processed food manufacturers are, instead, relying on freeze-drying samples in liquid nitrogen. Once dried, what's left is blended into a fine powder that food scientists can neatly analyze.
What's more, the FDA never established a comprehensive set of standards with which to determine calorie content accurately. In fact, the agency allows food manufacturers to "guesstimate" calories based on existing published nutritional data for thousands of foods.
Some suggestions to ensure you always know exactly what you're eating:
Slate.com