Nutrition declaration
The nutrition declaration on food products tells how much fat, protein and carbohydrate the product contains per 100 grams or per serving. Reading this correctly is crucial for calculating ketogenic meals.
Find the values per 100 grams
On the back of the packaging you will find a table with nutritional content. Look for the column "per 100 g". These are the values you use in the calculation. If you weigh 40 grams of the product, multiply each value by 0.4.
Fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein
For ketogenic calculation, it is total fat, total carbohydrate and protein that are the most important numbers. "Saturated fat" and "sugar" are subcategories that are included in the total numbers – you do not need to add them separately.
Pay attention to serving size
Some products also provide values "per serving". Always check what the serving size is before using these numbers. The safest approach is to use "per 100 g" and calculate from the actual amount you weigh.
Read the ingredient list
The ingredient list is ordered by quantity – the ingredient weighing the most comes first. Look for carbohydrate sources such as sugar, syrup, glucose, fructose, honey, flour, starch, maltodextrin and fruit concentrate. Both starch and maltodextrin are carbohydrates that are not declared as sugar, but they still count in the calculation.
Dietary fibre
Dietary fibre is declared on its own line and is not included in the carbohydrate figure in Norwegian labelling. You should therefore not subtract the fibre yourself – use the carbohydrate figure as it stands. Foreign products may be labelled differently, where fibre can be included in the carbohydrate value, so check how the declaration is built up.
Compare products
Two products of the same type can have different content. Always compare the numbers per 100 grams: how many grams of fat against carbohydrate? The more fat and the less carbohydrate, the higher the ratio. Also check whether the values apply to raw or cooked product, and whether the product contains added sugar or starch.