On Friday 30 January 2009 23:37:25 David wrote: > How long after the initial metrication would it take for food companies to > start using "joules/kilojoules" instead of "calories?" (They would use > kilojoules and not just joules, correct?) Even if people don't use > centimeters or kilograms in their daily lives they've at least heard of > them. But I don't think anyone outside of the scientific community has > heard of the "joule." > > So would calories stay or would those be changed as well? Do they use > joules/kilojoules on food packages in metric countries?
I have seen kilojoules on food packages, I don't remember where. It might cause some confusion in Spanish-speaking countries, since the word is the same, except for the capital letter, as that for the name Julius. If I said a figure in joules and someone asked me what that is, I'd say it's a watt-second. I think more people are familiar with watts than newtons. Pierre
