Can't trust nutritional labels (even on simple stuff like dry beans)

You shouldn't trust nutritional labels at all. I've heard that they might be more accurate in the EU, but here in the US they seem to be completely made up.

Consider:

Treasured Harvest pinto beans: https://www.food4less.com/p/treasured-harvest-pinto-beans/0079756500133

2.11 kcal/g (dry weight)

and

Goya pinto beans: https://www.kroger.com/p/goya-canary-beans/0004133102495

3.35 kcal/g (dry weight)

That's 59% more!

I trust the USDA data a bit more, but unfortunately it's not available for everything (like Mayocaba/Peruano beans)

Comments

  • edited January 2022

    It is a conundrum. How can dried pinto beans have any variation by brand when using identical weights? There well may be variations in the nutrients from farmer to farmer and from year to year, but I would expect them to be minor and to average out over multiple tests. I seriously doubt one farmer grows pinto beans with 59% more calories than the next farmer.

    The only variation that may be traceable, and perhaps substantial, would be the nutrients declining or increasing, over a period of years or decades, as soil and fertilizers quit doing their jobs or are simply depleted.

    Having said all that, your links lead, one to pinto beans and the other to canary beans. Different beans.

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