# Why do calories for packaged foods come out to such nice round numbers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234 "2006-05-25T19:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/1 "2006-05-25T19:24:28Z")
A cursory investigation in my kitchen has confirmed what my suspicions: Almost no mainstream packaged foods have numbers of calories per serving that don’t end in 0. I can think of two possible explanations for this: 1. They round it. 2. They put in just the right amount of food to get a nice clean calorie number. I can’t imagine how this could possibly be worth it for the companies. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/2 "2006-05-25T19:28:00Z")
They round it. Anything with less than 5 calories per serving is labelled as 0 calories. Anything else must be rounded to the nearest 5 calories until you get over 100 calories. Over 100 calories, you round to the nearest 10 calorie increment. [cite](http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/flg-5-2.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/3 "2006-05-25T19:32:55Z")
Huh. Thanks. I guess that’s the answer that makes the most sense, anyway, but I’m surprised they’re given so much leeway. Those magical rounded calories add up (or down). ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/4 "2006-05-25T19:39:13Z")
Five calories ain’t all that significant in a 2000 calorie daily diet, tho. It’s only a quarter of one percent. Barely measureable. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/5 "2006-05-25T19:57:54Z")
> [@Lama Pacos](#): > > Those magical rounded calories add up (or down). If calories in a serving size is randomly distributed, then they pretty much cancel out. The 5 rounds up. So for every 10 servings, you have consumed on average one calorie less than advertised. However, I would not put it past manufacturers to size their servings so that calories end in 4 so they can always round down. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/6 "2006-05-25T20:25:00Z")
Haven’t serving sizes been more rigorously regulated lately? I know at one time they played games with the serving size, but I believe recent (in the last 5-10 years?) rules limit what sizes can be used. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/7 "2006-05-25T21:06:45Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Haven’t serving sizes been more rigorously regulated lately? I know at one time they played games with the serving size, but I believe recent (in the last 5-10 years?) rules limit what sizes can be used. Yep. Most common foods now have a [reference amount](http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/CF101-12.HTML) set by the FDA. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/8 "2006-05-25T21:30:03Z")
Do they also round the grams per serving of carbohydrates, protein and fat? I think I’ve seen foods where the 4C + 4P + 9F formula is further off from the calorie content than what **WhyNot** ’s cite would allow. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-calories-for-packaged-foods-come-out-to-such-nice-round-numbers/358234/9 "2006-05-25T22:35:18Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > They round it. Which explains how milk can have different numbers of calories depending on which kind of cereal you pour it on.