# Pickles have no calories? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279 "2005-04-26T23:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/1 "2005-04-26T23:56:45Z")
The label on my kosher dills says they have zero calories. I thought this was only possible for essentially chemical food like Diet Mountain Dew. Even celery has calories! Can I start a new diet of nothing but pickles two meals a day? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/2 "2005-04-26T23:58:50Z")
The calories are so few, that chewing them burns enough to negate them. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/3 "2005-04-27T00:03:29Z")
Cucumbers are mostly water and fiber, dill and salt don’t have any calories, and the calories you get from the vinegar are going to be neglible. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/4 "2005-04-27T00:35:23Z")
How’s your jar sliced? I buy pickle halves, and the label says those are 5 calories a piece. They do allow rounding on nutrition labels, so if you’ve got something smaller, it might round down to 0. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/5 "2005-04-27T00:54:58Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > How’s your jar sliced? I buy pickle halves, and the label says those are 5 calories a piece. They do allow rounding on nutrition labels, so if you’ve got something smaller, it might round down to 0. Spears, or quarters. So they may have 2.5 cals. I may sue. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/6 "2005-04-27T00:58:05Z")
[Calories in Pickles](http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/Foods/1100/11937/5/Food.aspx) For dill pickles it works out to 5.6 grams per Calorie. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/7 "2005-04-27T01:20:15Z")
Obviously some of you have read [Cecil’s column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040507.html) on negative calories in celery and other veggies. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/8 "2005-04-27T03:19:35Z")
Sweet pickles or bread and butter pickles have added sugar, so they have more calories/carbs than your dill variety. Cucumbers are mostly water and fiber aren’t they? So it makes sense they’d be low calorie. I love baby dill pickles. Try them rolled up in a nice slice of ham with some cream cheese for a lovely low carb snack!! MMMMM ---
**Author:** ![SLCtsd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@SLCtsd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SLCtsd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/9 "2011-03-09T03:19:40Z")
I also noticed the label on my big jar of whole Dill pickles claims zero calories and zero carbs. I figured it was an error. Later, at a different store I checked several other brands…same thing. So, clearly the labeling is intentional. The jar has about 20 pickles in it and the serving size is 1 pickle. So, to get zero by rounding there would have to be less than 10 calories total in all 20 pickles. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/10 "2011-03-09T03:32:59Z")
If the calories are under 5 per serving, then you can legally say “zero calories” in the US, even though it does have some calories. Splenda can advertise having zero calories, even though it has fricking sugar (dextrose) in the ingredient list. It has 3.36 calories per gram apparently. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/11 "2011-03-09T03:51:26Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > If the calories are under 5 per serving, then you can legally say “zero calories” in the US, even though it does have some calories. Splenda can advertise having zero calories, even though it has fricking sugar (dextrose) in the ingredient list. It has 3.36 calories per gram apparently. Same with cooking spray (Pam and the like). The first ingredient listed is canola oil. But the calories per serving is tiny, because the serving size is tiny. For Pam, the listed serving size is “1/4-second spray (0.27g)”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/12 "2011-03-09T15:04:14Z")
Zombie pickles have zero calories. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/13 "2011-03-09T15:07:30Z")
But at least their braaaaaaiiins are preserved. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/14 "2011-03-09T15:09:07Z")
> [@chefguy](#): > > zombie pickles have zero calories. “Briiiiiiiines” ETA: Curses! Scooped by **Ludovic**! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/15 "2011-03-09T17:48:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Zombie pickles have zero calories. Aren’t pickles basically zombie, or rather mummy cucumbers? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/16 "2011-03-09T18:06:27Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Aren’t pickles basically zombie, or rather mummy cucumbers? Stay away from vampire cucumbers. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/17 "2011-03-09T18:08:22Z")
Being exsanguinated is, I suppose, one rather extreme way to lose weight. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/18 "2011-03-09T18:12:36Z")
> [@SLCtsd](#): > > I also noticed the label on my big jar of whole Dill pickles claims zero calories and zero carbs. I figured it was an error. Later, at a different store I checked several other brands…same thing. So, clearly the labeling is intentional. > > The jar has about 20 pickles in it and the serving size is 1 pickle. So, to get zero by rounding there would have to be less than 10 calories total in all 20 pickles. Not necessarily; it depends on the granularity of the rounding. You’re making the assumption that the caloric information is rounded to the nearest calorie; in fact it may be rounded to the nearest 5 or 10 (or some other number). Check the food labelling laws for your jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/19 "2011-03-09T18:14:50Z")
There is something funny going on with pickles, indeed. Notice that they’re sold by the milliliter? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279/20 "2011-03-09T18:17:18Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Stay away from vampire cucumbers. Feh. Bunch of dillitantes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pickles-have-no-calories/301279.md?page=2)