Something I have always been concerned with (and said to many), was that I did not trust caloric values on packaging or as published by restaurants, fast food chains or coffee houses. There are many who need to count calories, and there are those of us who may not. For those that do count as part of their nutritional regimen, be careful. What you see may not be what you get.

I am big on whole foods. Although, in today's fast paced world, packaged goods and eating out are nearly unavoidable. Part of my concern was actually based upon the different shape and size of so many "packaged" foods. How could it be possible that each and every piece of say almond nut clusters be identical in caloric and nutritional values. They can't. So, I always look at nutritional values as a "guideline", an average. Whole foods are no different, unless in a laboratory, how could one actually identify the calories in a banana? Is it small, medium, large? What is the weight in grams? Is the skin thicker or thinner and what does that weigh.

Now, don't make yourself crazy either. Be sensible.

Below is a link to a recent study published (very interesting read, specifically what these discrepancies can mean over extended periods of time) in the Journal of the American Diabetic Association, prepared foods may contain an average of 8% more calories than their package labels own up to and restaurant meals may contain a whopping 18% more. Worse still, as far as Food and Drug Administration regulations are concerned, that's perfectly O.K.

My advice, eat whole foods as often as possible, understand how to use labels and make sure you are getting a good balance of different nutrients.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100106/hl_time/08599195179800

Josh