How to Calculate Nutrition Data Using Excel or Open Office Calc
EU directive 1169/2011 comes into full effect on the 13th of December 2016. The first phase of this directive came into effect in 2014 on December 13th but the second requires nutrition data which begs the question of how to calculate nutrition data.The first phase of this regulation required that all ingredients on labels needed to include allergen information within the ingredient list. Prior to this regulation, it was legally acceptable to include allergen information in a separate area of your label.The new regulations simply require allergens to be highlighted within the single ingredient list for the product but ingredients also need to be stated in quantitative order.Quantitative order simply means the largest constituent ingredient must be indicated first, then the second largest and so on. The percentages of these ingredients should also be included.There are several ways highlighting ingredients can be achieved; Users can use bold text underline text colour text or italic textThere are 14 allergens that must be indicated on labelling if they are present within the ingredients of the product. These include wheat or oats or any other cereal containing gluten and also include milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, molluscs to name a few.Another aspect of the legislation was to harmonise the legibility of text on food labels.Historically, the text could be incredibly difficult to read as manufacturers crammed as much information into as small a section of the label as possible so as to maximise the marketing potential of the rest of the label.The new regulations require that all text must be legible with a specific height of the letter “x” in the font no smaller than 1.2 millimetres. In layman’s terms, that means that the standard Arial or Times New Roman font needs to be 6.5 points and size.The second phase of the regulations coming into force this December requires that nutrition data is supplied with all pre-packaged food so that consumers can make choices regarding the nutrition within the food they buy.The law stipulates that this information must be conveyed to the customer per 100 grams.It is also possible to convey the information additionally per serving so, for example, a sandwich would constitute a serving so a food producer could provide the information based on the entire sandwich. The food producer can also indicate nutrition values in a portion, for example, a biscuit or a small piece of chocolate. But the food producer must also provide the information in a per 100g format in all instances.How to Calculate Nutrition Data
In order to calculate the nutrition values of prepackaged food for sale to the public food production businesses need to know the nutrition values for the constituent ingredients within their product. Perhaps the best way to demonstrate how to calculate nutrition data is to give an example; a ham and mustard sandwich.A ham and mustard sandwich might consist of four ingredients; we will have the bread, ham, mustard, and margarine or butter to make a sandwich. Each of these ingredients will be incorporated along the lines of a recipe; that is to say, there will be a specific weight of each product to make up a standard product.Food manufacturers need to start with the basic data for the nutrition for each of the ingredients – as mentioned, the legislation requires that nutrition data is provided per 100 grams. As all manufacturers are required to do this most food producing companies should be able to obtain that information directly from the packaging of the products that they buy in or by speaking with their supplier.In our example, the food producer could tabulate the data from the constituent ingredients into a table. The information that must be conveyed includes energy in both kilojoules and kilocalories; they must also convey total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugar, protein, and salt – all in grams.Food producers can also indicate monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fats, polyols and starch (which are carbohydrates) and fibre if they wish to do so.The order of the nutrients is specific and must be adhered to comply with the regulations.Once the table of data is prepared per 100 grams for all of the ingredients, the food producer needs to understand the weight of each product used in the recipe to make the sandwich. In this example, the food producer would need to know the weight of two slices of bread (let’s say 60 grams), the ham they use (e.g. 30 grams), 10 grams of mustard 5 grams of margarine.Once this has been done a simple calculation is applied to each of the constituent ingredients to determine how many calories, how much fat, saturated fat etc. is present in the recipe. The calculation will be to divide the per 100g nutrition data by 100 then multiply that by the weight of that constituent in the ingredient.E.g. If 100g of ham is 350 calories, divided by 100 is 3.5 calories per gram. 3.5 calories per gram x 30 grams used in the recipe is 105 calories.Once this is complete, the food manufacturer will have an accurate indication of the total nutrition data for the ham and mustard sandwich by simply adding the values for each constituent ingredient together as a total for the recipe.And that is how to calculate nutrition data using Microsoft Excel or Open Office Calc.Right now, food manufacturers across the UK are facing a huge challenge in achieving the objectives set out in the regulations and they need to address them very quickly if they have not already.
Type 2 Diabetes and Healthy Living – Part 1 of Measuring Your Current Lifestyle
Regardless of where your health stands, it is beneficial to measure your current lifestyle. It will reveal areas of concern that can be worked on to elevate your health. It will also make it easier for your doctor to give you actionable advice.Take a self-assessment test! Answer the following questions in detail and provide this information to a trusted professional. Work out the kinks in your health, and commit to attaining a higher quality of life…1. Are you a couch potato? First things first: exercise. Do you do it, or do you avoid it more than you would like to admit? Exercising is essential for a variety of reasons. You are always better off exercising than not, and it is rare you will regret making an effort. It does wonders for every facet of health and well-being. Whereas being a couch potato leaves you vulnerable to a host of complications.2. Do you park close to stores to avoid walking? This question reveals your mindset towards physical activity. Maybe it is a matter of habit but consistently choosing to park close to a store entrance shows a tendency to avoid exercise.You cannot avoid physical activity if you are to be healthy.3. How do you spend your time at home? There s nothing wrong with leisure time during your downtime. But for work-life balance to exist, it requires your health is looked after. The two best ways to take care of your health is to eat well and be active.Always allocate some of your time at home to healthy eating and regular activity: this means you should exercise throughout the week and make an effort to cook your meals. You do not have to do these every day, but they should become regular habits.4. How often and when do you eat out? Is eating out a special occasion for you, or has it become something you have learned to expect? Everything in moderation. There is no harm in eating out a couple of times a month. Any more than this, and you ought to be mindful of the choices you are making at the restaurant.(Say yes to traditional salads, and no to fish and chips).5. How much sleep do you get? If you are sleep deprived, it is going to create a slew of problems you may not immediately recognize. It is going to throw off your moods, appetite, and energy levels, making it harder to stay on the right track.6. How much alcohol do you consume? Be careful with alcohol. That is all that needs to be said. If anyone in their 20′s cannot afford the internal damage it inflicts, it is even more relevant for you to keep your`intake at a minimum.
Home Repair Or Home Improvement on a Shoestring Budget – A Handyman Service Can Help Save Money
are As tax refund season is now upon us, more individuals and families are receiving larger refunds than anticipated partly due to minimal tax reform incentives from the current administration. Many home owners will just squander the tax refunds away on expensive toys and luxuries. A few of the wise families will save and make safe investments.One of the few truly safe investments has been and still is one’s home. It would be foolish to dump all of a tax refund into any one thing, however, a portion of that refund can easily be put towards any variety of home improvement projects. True, the current real estate market is depressed, but history has never failed to show us that property values always come back and any home improvement project or home repair is never a waste of money.Many common and popular home improvement projects undertaken in the second half of the winter season has been adding a deck, fence, or converting the existing patio into a screened in patio. With the economy experiencing a recession, home owners may attempt to make these projects into a do-it-yourself experience. A majority of the time the experience is learned the hard way.Fencing, decks, and screen patios are nowhere near as simple as the home improvement books would indicate. Different regions of the country and different ground types require specific methods. An example would be the sandy soil conditions and poor drainage conditions in Florida as opposed to the hard packed ground that granite provides. Building codes can also vary greatly from county to county.Should a home owner’s budget be thin, one answer to this predicament can be to coordinate with a local handyman company to perform much of the more difficult tasks and labor, leaving the simple final touches like painting or molding to the home owner to complete at their leisure.The only word of caution to this possible solution is most home repair or handyman service companies will not guarantee their work if the home owner makes any changes to the materials or labor provided. The best solution in this case is for the home repair or handyman company to explicitly explain in detailed writing the guarantee or warranty on materials and labor provided before any services commence. The role of the home owner in any coordinated project should also be spelled out in detail in order to eliminate any potential confusion or disagreements in the future.