Susan Powter would pitch a fit (fat contect question)

Factual Questions
1

SO I was looking at my can of Bally brand meal replacement shake (I got it free when I joined up) and emblazoned around the top are the words “99% fat free!” Looking at the nutritional facts I see that a serving (one can) contains 170 calories and 20 calories from fat. If I remember my basic math from eons ago I can figure out percentages by dividing the smaller number by the larger which yields me a result of…11.76% fat.

Obviously there are government regs covering this sort of thing but a quick search of the FDA website yielded nothing that answered my question, which is, how does a company get away with labeling something which gets 11.76% of its calories from fat as 99% fat free? Is this a measurement by volume or weight thing?

2

20 calories of fat is a hair over 2 grams.

A 200 gram meal (little less than half a pound) with two grams of fat is thus 99% fat free.

It’s probably some magic based on the total weight.

3

I believe the % fat is by weight. If you look at the nutritional information, note the number of grams in a serving size, and note the number of grams of fat in one serving. The grams of fat should make up about 1% of the serving. Fat has around 9 (K)calories per gram whereas carbs and protein only have 4.

Most of the can is probably water, providing no calories at all.