Question from Lifetime Television

Question
Hello, Ms. Allen. My name is Jon and I'm a researcher for a tv show on Lifetime called DROP DEAD DIVA. It's my job to make sure our show is as accurate as possible. To achieve this goal, I often get amazing help from experts here on allexperts.com. I don't know if these questions are within your area of expertise, but I thought it was worth a shot.

If a bakery or yogurt shop lied about their food items being "low calorie", who would catch them and what kind of sanctions would be levied against them?  

Also, when the health department is questioning the calorie count of items served at a bakery, I want the rep to say: "I need to see your lab results" or something like that so that there's proof to verify the calories in the items.  What would the business owner have (or not have) that proves he's done accurate calorie counting?  

Hope these make sense. We really appreciate any help you can provide.

Sincerely,

Jon

Answer
Hi Jon.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees food labels.  If the food does not meet the requirement set by the FDA for use of the phrase (in the "low calorie" example, the food would have to have 40 calories or less per serving), I would think the nearest FDA office would be the best to contact.  However, most bakeries would be exempt from labeling requirements because of (1) the amount of annual sales they have and/or (2) because the food can be eaten on site.  I would think the FDA would probably send a warning-type letter (an example is available at http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocument) for using improper label wording prior to any fines.  If the business continued to deceive customers, the FDA could become more involved.

As for determining calories, that can be done in two different ways.  The easiest, most cost effective way for a small business (which is also acceptable for any food label) would be to add all the calories of the ingredients then divide by the number of servings the recipe makes.  This is an estimation known as the Atwater system.  A list of the acceptable calories per ingredient to be used is available on the National Data Lab website.  Another, more expensive and rarely used method, is to use a bomb calorimeter.  The bomb calorimeter measurement involves burning a food then measuring how much it heats the surrounding water.  (A calorie is the amount of energy that is needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of water 1 degree Celsius, so if it raised the 1kg of water 60 degrees Celsius, the food would have 60 calories.)  The most likely proof one could ask for is a list of the ingredients and their records showing how they determined the calorie level.  It may be likely they aren't truthfully listing their ingredients or ingredient amounts if the calorie level is inaccurate.    

I have never personally heard of a health department becoming involved with labeling claims.  I would think that would be outside of their jurisdiction.  Their purpose is more to ensure the sanitation of the establishment and to protect the health of the people who purchase what was prepared and/or sold there.

I hope that helps.  You could contact an FDA representative for more information.

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