Part 2: Caloric information

The amount of calories is one of the most crucial pieces of information in the Nutrition Facts table. There are two things to look at: Total calories and calories from fat.

The total calories come from macronutrients – carbohydrates, fats and proteins, like this:

• 1 gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories
• 1 gram of protein contains 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories

Although you shouldn’t generalize because each food type has particular components, in general, a product which has more than 250 calories per 100 grams is a highly caloric product and you should try to avoid it. Eating this type of product may result in consuming more calories than you need in a day and this may lead to weight problems or obesity.

In addition, we have the calories from fat which, as its name indicates, are the calories that come strictly from the fat content of the product. Yet, many products don’t include this information because, when the fat content is less than 0.5mg, it is not required according to national regulation.

Calories from fat however, tell us a great deal about the fat content of the product, so when the information is given, make sure you look at it to understand how much fat is included in the product.