Marianne Mancusi,
Danielle Schlesier
Now -- critical info for dieters! If you're counting carbs to lose weight or to stay healthy, you probably rely package labels to help you make good choices. But we found you can't always believe what those labels say! Investigative Reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan put some low-carb products to the test and the surprising lab results reveal the "Real Deal".
Cookies, bread, muffins they look delicious in the store shelves... And their promises are even more tempting. They're labeled low carb, that's a big draw for dieters.
But here's the real deal, if you're counting carbs, you can't always count on the label! High customer demand and low government regulation are leading to customer confusion. Nutrition experts warn that you may not be getting what you expect.
Irene Heller, Center for Science in the Public Interest
"There's kind of a free-for-all in the market."
And here's the low-carb lowdown, carrying a hidden camera we purchased products advertised as low-carb at local shops and bakeries -- muffins, cookies and bread. We then took four items to a well-known research lab for testing where using state-of-the-art methods they analyzed each one. In fact, they did each product twice and turns out that every promise was a lie.
Hank Phillippi Ryan
"So these are 400, 500, 600 percent wrong."
"I'm just as shocked as you are. I truly did not expect to be that and they were."Andrea Fontaine, Foods Research Lab
Look at the results… The double chocolate chip cookie, the store promised 2.5 grams of carbs, our test revealed 12.3 grams! These blueberry muffins, the label said 5.5 grams of carbs, tests showed 27.5 grams.
Are these people getting what they paid for?
Andrea Fontaine, Foods Research Lab
"Not even close."
This bread was even worse. The nutrition info says 6 grams -- our test shows 38.5! The chocolate chip muffins also say 6 grams of carbs. But the lab proves they have 40.8 grams!
Andrea Fontaine, Foods Research Lab
"All of the labels on the information was incorrect."
For those counting carbs to lose weight or get healthy, The American Dietetic Association says these results are sabotage.
Heidi Reichenberger, American Dietetic Association
"I can't believe that a person, a company, would sell something this deceptive this wrong."
So how can they get away with it? The law says in certain cases it's OK to skip the lab and calculate nutrition levels using ingredient databases or even cookbooks. Stores and manufacturers admitted their numbers were estimates and told us they just figured they were correct.
Heidi Reichenberger, American Dietetic Association
"It's really affecting people's health and that scares me, it upsets me and I'm shocked."
What's more, just the words "low carb" can be misleading. Unlike their specific rules for low fat, low sodium, low cholesterol and calorie, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have not decided what can be called low carb.
Hank Phillippi Ryan
"So if low carb is on a label, what can customers rely on that to mean?"
Dr. Lester Crawford, FDA
"It doesn't mean anything."
Bottom line -- if you don't ask stores if their carb values are actually tested, you may be filling up on promises.
Dr. Lester Crawford, FDA
"This is an important public health issue and that's why we have to do something about it."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is in the earliest phases of proposing definitions for low carb, but there's not even an estimate on when that might happen. That's the "Real Deal", I'm Hank Phillippi Ryan.
