To help you shop wisely, you may want to learn more about the following food advertising claims. Fat has been implicated in heart disease the nation's number one killer as well as in cancer, diabetes, and other serious illnesses. Fat claims in food ads take various forms. At first glance, the product may look like a good choice. But, in most cases, this percentage is based on weight, not on calories from fat.
Foods advertised with fat-free claims based on weight still can be relatively high in fat.
Instead, focus on the number of grams of fat and the percentage of calories from fat in each serving. Only then will you know how the food measures up against the Surgeon General's guidelines. To figure out the percentage of calories from fat, check the nutrition label for the number of grams of fat in a serving. A gram of fat has 9 calories. Simply multiply the number of grams of fat in a serving by 9 and compare that to the total number of calories in a serving.