Even though the calorie is an old metric unit many people think it is part of the English collection.
Jerry ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: U..S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 1:47:01 PM Subject: [USMA:44487] Re: FPLA 2010 More precisely, Stan, the "calorie" is a measurement of the specific heat of water (joules) at a particular temperature, and is now listed as "unacceptable" as a unit, on Page 11 of NIST SP 811 (2008). I agree with your comment on "sodium" which should be "salt" or "NaCl". What can be said about "sea salt" which consists of a wide variety of other metallic salts, not just NaCl? Is sea salt bad for the circulatory system? Gene. ---- Original message ---- >Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 09:18:29 -0400 >From: "Stan Jakuba" <[email protected]> >Subject: [USMA:44480] Re: FPLA 2010 >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > >While on the food labeling issue, in my collection of labels from many >countries, only the U..S. is denying the existence of energy in food. One >wonders how the fattest people in the world become so obese if the amount of >the label-specified fat would not sustain a pet. I am referring, of course, >to the mysterious "calories" in the column of protein, fat, calcium,....... >See the attachment (included for the non-Americans). > >Other nations print the word "energy" (in the respective language), and list >value in kJ (sometimes concurrently with kcal). > >This U.S. labeling specialty makes it possible to see the same >chocolate/candy-bar portrayed on two different TV channels in the U.S. as >follows: > >One commercial shows the bar on the background of jumping, celebrating, >happy teenagers, the message conveying: Buy it, eat it, be happy; it has >lots of energy. Energy is good for you. Can't eat too much of it. > >A nutrition promoting channel next to it shows the same candy bar with the >message of rotten teeth and obese children slumbering about while being >told: The product is bad for you. It has calories. Calories are bad. Stay >away from them. Don't buy it, don't eat it. > >I'd like to understand the mind-set of the FPLA official who did not >recognize that calorie is a unit, not a quantity. The same person perhaps, >who is responsible for the missing spaces in the metric values while they >exist in the I-P values. > >There is another mystery on the U.S. labels and I hope there is a >chemist/nutritionist on this forum who can explain why the nutritional >labels list sodium, a highly toxic element nobody can eat. I'd say "salt" or >"NaCl" or some other name if there are several different salts involved, but >"sodium"? >Stan Jakuba
