Labels, Labels, Labels

[khuynh]

Hi there!

There is a table in the attachment. I cannot get the full functionality of HTML to work in the post. I tried and I got some really icky results.

So, please read the attached document and let me know what your answer is.

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Thanks.

Keta.

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[khuynh]

Another question ...

Why are the total Carbohydrates higher in the fat free version yet the sugar grams are lower? Can anyone explain that?

Keta.

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[dmcqnita]

Hi Keta,

As far as which one I would choose, I'd have to say that depends on how they taste! If the fat-free is icky, no way. If the 1/3 less fat is good, I'd stick with it. If it is awful though, I'd go full fat.

For your 2nd question, I've heard that some no-calorie sweeteners are "hidden carbs" and do count as far as the carb gram count but not where the calories are counted. I hope that made sense? I really do not know much on that topic though!

 

[naughtoj]

Keta...

I would say that I would fork out the additional .20 cents for the fat free. Cream cheese is pretty nutritionaly vacant, pretty much a "fun" food, but since your main goal is to try and "healthy up" this stroganoff I would go fat free. There seems to be a large percentage of saturated fat in the other cream cheeses, and I would say you do not need any more of that being that you will have beef, albeit lean, in your stroganoff. I am not a cook, but I am assuming you are mixing the cream cheese into the dish, so the taste factor really should not apply here. If I were eating it alone on a bagel or something that would be more important. Say you were eating something else that was virtually fat free, say a bagel....I would tell you to buy the light for just a little fat to balance the macronutrients in your meal. BUT !!! I also would tell you to ditch the cream cheese entirely and go with natural peanut butter!!!!

I would fork out the extra .20 cents especially if you are not going to use it all in the recipe. Maybe you will get more than one use out of it!! I am suprised that the store brand fat-free costs more than the brand name full fat?? Or did I misunderstand?? Usually fat free generic is less??

Anyway, sounds to me like you have a strong fat contributor in your meal already (beef) and a good amount of carbs in your noodles, so I would go with the most calorically and fat vacant cream cheese I could find...

AND THE WINNER IS????????????

 

[naughtoj]

OOOOHHHHH....and a nutritional advantage with the fat free...looks to me like the only thing you will add detrimentaly to your meal is 35 mg of salt, which is tolerable, yes???? Janice

 

[khuynh]

I was hoping to get more responses but since it is late Sunday night, I'll share the "answer" ...

There is no right answer. It's really based upon your tastes and what your goals are.

Janice, you hit it right on the head ... I was looking too healthy the recipe up. So I chose the fat free brand cream cheese and light sour cream. That took the recipe from 46% of its calories from fat down to 28% calories from fat.

If you look, there are errors all over the labels. This is just a point that sometimes you cannot always believe what the label says and you can almost never believe the marketing claims on the front of the label.

On thing I want to point out is that on the regular and 1/3 less fat variety ... the reported fat on the regular was 90% of its calories from fat. On the 1/3 less fat variety, it was 85% of its calories from fat. That's because it is 1/3 less fat grams from the regular version. Regular fat grams are reported at 10 grams and 1/3 less fat grams was reported at 6 grams. Just something to be cautious of when you are purchasing the less fat version.

Also, dmcqnita has it right. The 3 extra grams of carbs in the fat free are in the hidden carb category. Sugar substitutes and sugar alcohols. Both don't have to be reported on the label but will decay your teeth and behave just like sugar.

And just to put another mystery onto this little saga … there are missing grams of either carbs, protein, or fat. It’s all buried in the ingredients.

Just a little experiment.

Keta.

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[LHK]

Just feel I should add my two cents here:
From a culinary standpoint, and not a health one, I think it is rarely a good idea to cook with non-fat cream cheese or sour cream. Stroganoff recipes in particular require a certain amount of fat to hold the sauce together. A nonfat item might not blend, cream, or hold together well under heat. My advice would be to go with the regular products and just try not to eat too much of it!

 

[khuynh]

I'm with you LHK,

Next time it's the lite version or the real stuff. It wasn't as good as it could have been.

Keta.

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