Wth are net impact carbs? Have I bought the wrong thing?

#1

I am carefully counting every carb that passes my lips. Not so hard usually, just using food label to calculate and inthe UK fibre listed separately anyway.
However I treated myself to a box of Keto bars. (Dont judge me… I have a busy life and sometimes need something convenient). I bought them because each bar has <2g carbs per bar. However on closer inspection it is actually <2g of ‘net impact carbs’. On the detailed nutrician label it says each bar has 6g carbohydrate, of which sugars 1.15g and 4.8g fibre. Help! Have I just scoffed 6g of carbs out of my 20 a day?

(bulkbiker) #2

Guessing the sweetner might be sugar alcohol which may or may not be problematic… depends on you kinda… do you have a pic of the nutrition info or a link to the product?

#3

By my crappy math that says 1.2 net, what’s the problem?

(bulkbiker) #4

OP is UK based so can’t subtract the fibre it is already excluded from the carb count… unless said bars came from the USA in which case the packaging is incorrect for the UK market.

#5

Does that not happen over there? I get UK stuff sometimes with those labels on them, Canadian stuff that’s half in french, bought some Asian thing once that was in scribble (that shouldn’t be allowed). I think here at least it just has to have all the info on it, I think imports just have their own labels on them, but not sure either.

(bulkbiker) #6

Carbs and fibre are listed separately on UK packaging.
Usually they are shown per 100g too so percentages are easy to work out.
So for this biltong example carbs and fibre are listed separately… makes life far easier!

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(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

Here’s how to tell: if your nutrition label has a panel giving amounts per 100 grams of product (in place of or in addition to a panel giving amounts per serving), it is likely to be European-style, in which case the “carbohydrate” amount already has the fibre (but not, I believe, the sugar) subtracted. If the label only has a panel giving amounts per some ridiculously small serving size, then it is likely to be North-American-style, in which case the “carbohydrate” amount definitely includes the fibre and sugar.

If you are still confused, ring up your local consumer protection agency and ask for advice. The product cannot legally be sold unless properly labelled for the jurisdiction in which the sale takes place.

I suspect that “net impact carbs” is an attempt to say that the product is even better than it may appear from reading the nutrition label. You have to decide for yourself if you believe them. If you are trying to count total carbohydrate, it sounds as though this bar is going to have a heavy impact on your count. If you are only counting net carbs, then the impact will be less.

As you are discovering, this need to do complex calculations is one of the reasons we suggest trying to avoid “keto” products. If you’ll forgive some gratuitous advice, there are plenty of suggestions for easily-made snacks in our Recipes forum (search on “fat bombs,” among other things). The advantage to making your own is that you know exactly what’s in 'em.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #8

I sometimes encounter products with an English label pasted over the original label. If any of the original label is visible, it’s always a foreign language, most often resembling Chinese or Japanese characters. I find these most commonly in ethnic groceries. Here in Vancouver we have a lot of Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Persian ethnic groceries. We also have the home-grown TnT which was founded by some Canadian Chinese to cater to the Asian market. So I presume these are products imported from the home countries of these groups and relabeled to satisfy our labeling laws in Canada. I find a lot of very interesting food in ethnic groceries! TnT is a great place to shop if you’re adventurous, which I sometimes am.

#9

This is a uk label. Fibre is listed separately. Carbs listed dont include fibre.

#10

No it’s a uk product

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #11

@Hypat1a I wasn’t referring specifically to your product, just making a generalization based on products available from various sources here in Vancouver. I agree with @PaulL above that ‘net impact carbs’ is just a gimmick to emphasize the carb content.

(UsedToBeT2D) #12

Skip the processed food. Take some hard boiled eggs and an avocado for a snack.

#13

Cant all be perfect. I take the occasional shortcut when I need to. Was actually just looking for insight into the nutritional labelling.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #14

Recent (this afternoon) trip to my local TnT Super in West Vancouver, rebranded as ‘Osaka’.

(bulkbiker) #15

Can you please supply a link to the labelling or product so we can take a look?
The ingredients list will probably explain a lot of what the nutrition label is showing.
Or at least name the product.
Thanks

#16

Thanks so much everyone. Here is the link to the product. https://theskinnyfoodco.com/collections/keto-products/products/ketoketo-50g-bar
On the same page it states 3g of net carbs per bar, further down days <2g net impact carbs. Then the nutrician label says 6g carbs (this is UK so this is without fibre) How insanely confusing!
I simply add the carbs on nutrician labels or look up online to get to my 20g of carbs. Now wondering if I have got it all wrong. I certainly wont be eating these if they actually count as 6g!

(bulkbiker) #17

No link

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #18

As others have suggested, the difference between the nutrition label and the “impact carbs” is sugar alcohols. We suggest counting at least half of their weight towards your carb allowance, if not the whole weight. And sugar alcohols tend to have a laxative effect on a lot of people, depending on the person and the sugar alcohol in question.

(bulkbiker) #19

Thanks for the link.
Huge warning lights go off for me as the ingredients list is empty, nothing there at all.
Second warning bell for me is the “vegan” label which means it’s all probably highly processed.
Third looks like they are made with sugar alcohols as we thought… again something else I would avoid personally.
For food on the go I’d suggest cold meats or pork scratchings.