# Susan Powter would pitch a fit (fat contect question) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-powter-would-pitch-a-fit-fat-contect-question/157484 "2003-02-25T21:18:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-powter-would-pitch-a-fit-fat-contect-question/157484/1 "2003-02-25T21:18:16Z")
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? ---
**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:** [February 25, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-powter-would-pitch-a-fit-fat-contect-question/157484/2 "2003-02-25T21:28:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-powter-would-pitch-a-fit-fat-contect-question/157484/3 "2003-02-25T21:34:38Z")
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.