I still find it amusing after all these years that here in the good old USA we are still saying we are on the “standard” system of measurement. As opposed to our friends in the rest of the world that are using the “metric” system. Although officially it is true I still ask the question, why does the food labeling system use grams as a unit of measurement instead of ounces? The preparation instructions if needed on the product is not in metric. I am sure that this is a very debatable subject for another time that would spawn everything from conspiracy theories to down right marketing deception.
The problem however is that most Americans grew up with there primary education in standard measurements so a gram for example has very little meaning as to actual volume. With this in mind a beverage label might read 20 grams of sugar but most people have no idea that what this means is that they are actually consuming approximately 5 teaspoons of sugar. So when was the last time you knowingly put 5 teaspoons of sugar in your coffee or tea?
The point here is that product labeling can be very miss leading because of the conversion factor, making it difficult for consumers that are truly looking for healthy food choices and healthy snacks to make the right decisions based on labeling. Our simple advice is to limit intake of commercially processed foods and go right for the fresh produce section as often as possible. After all I have not seen an apple with a nutritional label on it yet and the scale at the grocery store still reads in good old POUNDS and ONCES.