Most people go grocery shopping. From there, everyone shops in various ways. They depend on price, brand label or food labels. Those who have shopped depending on the food labels might be a bit misinformed and are now to find that calories have been miscounted. This leads to confusion because doctors insist on counting calories to maintain a healthy weight.

A calorie is unit of energy. More specifically, it is the energy needed to warm or absorbed within the temperature of water.

Every person absorbs and uses energy in different ways. If there are two different people with a 2000 calorie intake, they can have two completely different outcomes. If one spends all day laying around, the calories affect them differently than someone who is constantly moving and may even require more to compensate.

On food labels, most of the calories that are accounted for are coming from the proteins and fibers. Those are often overstated, says a representative from a nutrition consulting company in Britain. Someone who has a high protein or fiber diet, as well as diabetics, are most likely to be misled by the labels. For example, if someone is trying to eat fewer carbohydrates but more proteins within a 2000 calorie intake limit, they may actually be receiving less calories. This is not just a few calories either. It could be a deficit of hundreds. When someone eats a food like nuts or meats, the body requires more energy to break the food down, therefore the body starts to compensate for the calories taken in and the calories expended doing so,

The main problem may come from the fact that a system to count calories from the 1800s is still being used. Of course, there have been updates to the system. But food is a lot different than what was consumed back then. Foods are a lot more processed. In just 20 years alone, the average weight for American men jumped 16 pounds to be 196 pounds and women jumped 14 pounds to be on average 156 pounds. Lifestyle factors and environments have changed, and these systems need to account for that.

Though, this should not be taken as a sign that Americans especially need to be eating more to compensate for the calories they might not be eating. They still should be carefully monitoring their intake.

When asked about her awareness of the misleading food labels, freshman Taylor Gregory was nothing short of surprised.

“I did not know that food labels were inaccurate. It can really end up messing with someone’s health in the long run. Sure you eat less in the long run, but it could mess with the nutritional needs, especially for people who depend on the labels.”

Knowing adequate nutrition is key to one’s own success. If possible, do not depend on food labels. Fresh fruit will always come first to canned or processed foods. There are no calorie counts needed, just awareness of how much a person should be eating. If there are changes made in the future, it is up to food companies to become dependable and revise their labels.