# No calories in pickles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456 "2003-08-01T23:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/1 "2003-08-01T23:08:50Z")
So, I’m sitting here munching on some Heifetz kosher dill slices, and out of curiosity or straight boredom, I look at the “Nutrition Facts” on the label. Per the label, a serving of pickles is 1 oz. and contains NO calories. 0! No fat, no carbs, and no protein. It does contain 390mg of salt, but no calories? Surely there are calories in cucumbers, is there something about the pickleing process that destroys calories in the food? What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![ElJeffe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ElJeffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElJeffe)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/2 "2003-08-01T23:38:46Z")
Well, cucumbers are mostly water, which of course has no calories. I would guess (emphasis on “guess”) that the non-water portion of the cucumber has _some_ caloric value. I don’t know off-hand how much 1 oz of pickles slices looks like, but it’s possible that it’s such a small portion that it has close to zero calories, though if you ate the whole jar, there would be some calories in there. Jeff ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/3 "2003-08-02T02:31:40Z")
True pickling uses only salt to preserve food, so true pickling doesn’t add any calories to the food being preserved. What is becoming known as “pickling” is what used to be called “brining,” (I know, it’s messed up and ought to be the other way around, but I have European Jews on my side and they oughta know) and involves vinegar and/or sugar in addition to or instead of salt. Vinegar doesn’t have calories, but sugar does. I think the deal with cucumbers (and celery too) is that you expend more calories eating it than you get from it. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/4 "2003-08-02T02:31:45Z")
\*Mine says 5 calories for a one-ounce serving. Typically they show calories rounded to the nearest 5. So, that might be why they are statistically 0 calories per ounce in your case. Cucumbers by themselves probably don’t have more than 10 calories per ounce. Once they start sucking in all that salt water, it probably starts going down. \*Mt. Olive Zesty Garlic Dills Sandwich Stackers (or is it Stuffers?) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/5 "2003-08-02T07:54:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sattua \* > \*\*I think the deal with cucumbers (and celery too) is that you expend more calories eating it than you get from it. \*\* A bit of an urban legend. You’d have to spend several minutes chewing a celery stalk to expend more calories than it contained. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/6 "2003-08-02T08:21:58Z")
I thought cellulose was undigestable by the human digestive system, myth? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/7 "2003-08-02T13:04:32Z")
Cellulose is indigestible. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/8 "2003-08-02T13:34:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*A bit of an urban legend. You’d have to spend several minutes chewing a celery stalk to expend more calories than it contained. \*\* I’m not so sure that’s a UL. IANANutritionist, but I believe that your body expends calories _digesting_ the food, too; not just from chewing it. Therefore it’s highly possible (though I can’t say for sure) that you may burn fractionally more calories from eating a stalk of celery than you take in. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/9 "2003-08-02T14:19:58Z")
Remember – the nutrution information is subject to rounding. The pickle may have 0.48 calories, but it’ll be listed as 0. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/10 "2003-08-02T15:41:00Z")
Yes, I brought this pickle topic up a long time ago when I was talking about foods that don’t have any calories. Lucky, now Albertsons pickles don’t have any calories, but other types do. Looks like they pretty much cook out any nutrition there was. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/11 "2003-08-02T16:06:58Z")
According to Food and Drug Administration [guidelines](http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/CFR101-9.HTML) (21 CFR 101.9©(1)), for a food that has fewer than 50 calories per serving, the calories stated on the nutrition label are rounded to the nearest 5-calorie increment. Foods that have fewer than 5 calories per serving may be labeled “calorie-free”. So, those pickles may have as many as 4 calories per serving. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/12 "2003-08-02T21:20:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*Lucky, now Albertsons pickles don’t have any calories, but other types do. Looks like they pretty much cook out any nutrition there was. \*\* The Albertson’s brand sweet pickles I have in my pantry claim to have 8 grams of protein per serving. This would make them more protein-dense than, say, tuna. I somehow doubt the accuracy of this particular nutrition information, but I haven’t been motivated to report it to anyone. Sweet pickles, btw, have 35 calories per serving, no doubt from the sugar added. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/13 "2003-08-02T21:27:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by InternetLegend \* > The Albertson’s brand sweet pickles I have in my pantry claim to have 8 grams of protein per serving. This would make them more protein-dense than, say, tuna. I somehow doubt the accuracy of this particular nutrition information, but I haven’t been motivated to report it to anyone. Sweet pickles, btw, have 35 calories per serving, no doubt from the sugar added. Whoa. Eight grams? From what, I wonder. Eight grams of protein alone is 32 Calories. Does the information list any carbohydrates at all? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/14 "2003-08-03T05:04:54Z")
I still want to know (I brought this up in a thread that no one could answer)…Why is it on my pickle jar the first ingredient is Cucumbers. But on my relish jar it is PICKLES? No mention of cucumbers in my relish. I wonder why??? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/15 "2003-08-03T13:16:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sattua \* > **I think the deal with cucumbers (and celery too) is that you expend more calories eating it than you get from it.** True or not, that’s irrelevalent to the labeling. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bb73d2/32.png) [@Wolfrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfrick)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/16 "2003-08-03T14:26:36Z")
The rounding practices in food labeling are shameful. You have to be aware of those little rules and tricks the manufacturers use to make their products seem healthier than they are. Waloon says > [@](#): > > Foods that have fewer than 5 calories per serving may be labeled “calorie-free”. > > So, those pickles may have as many as 4 calories per serving. But it could be as much as 4.999 calories! So, if you look at a label and see “0 calories per serving” and think ‘I can eat as much as I want!’ and eat ten servings, you might be getting nearly 50 calories. Now, for most of us Americans, 50 calories is insignificant. But what if the same calculus is used with respect to, say, sodium content? And what if you’re excluding salt from your diet for important health reasons? IOW, don’t take food labels at face-value. ~Wolfrick ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/17 "2003-08-03T18:47:07Z")
Sodium content on nutritional labeling is not allowed to be rounded under FDA regulations. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-calories-in-pickles/192456/18 "2003-08-03T22:27:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*Whoa. Eight grams? From what, I wonder. Eight grams of protein alone is 32 Calories. Does the information list any carbohydrates at all? \*\* Ah, there’s the rub. The label also lists 8 grams of carbohydrates. (I’m assuming this is a simple labeling error, but either store-brand pickles don’t move off the shelves all that quickly or this is one giant lot - every jar I’ve bought for the past year has had this label.)