How is calorie and fat content worked out in food?

Question

I had previously attempted to ask this question but no-body seemed to know. Anybody got any explanations?

Answer 1

I'm not really sure what you mean, but a calorie is a measurment of enegy, 3,500 calories equals one pound. Calories come from 3 different things: proteins, carbohydrates and fat. Here's how many calories are in one gram of each:

protein - 4 calories

carbohydrate - 4 calories

fat - 9 calories

You can find out how many calories are in a food by looking at the nutrition label. Be sure to check the serving size too.

I hope this helped.

Answer 2

Although the energy value of some foods has been found by combustion in a bomb calorimeter, more usually the amounts of the macronutrients - fat, protein, carbohydrate and alcohol (ethanol) - in a food are taken into account when assessing the total energy value of the food. The energy value for each macronutrient must be known, and an allowance made for body losses.

Fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient, followed by alcohol, protein and carbohydrate.

A calorimeter is a device used for calorimetry, the science of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes as well as heat capacity. The word calorimeter is derived from the Latin word calor, meaning heat. Differential scanning calorimeters, isothermal microcalorimeters, titration calorimeters and accelerated rate calorimeters are among the most common types. A simple calorimeter just consists of a thermometer attached to an insulated container. To find the enthalpy change per mole of a substance X in a reaction between two liquids X and Y, they are added to the calorimeter and the initial and final (after the reaction has finished) temperatures are noted. Multiplying the temperature change by the mass and specific heat capacities of the liquids gives a value for the energy given off during the reaction (assuming the reaction was exothermic.). Dividing the energy change by how many moles of X were present gives its enthalpy change of reaction. This method is used primarily in academic teaching as it describes the theory of calorimetry. It doesn’t however account for the heat loss through the container or the heat capacity of the thermometer and container itself. In addition, the object placed inside the calorimeter show that the objects transferred their heat to the calorimeter and into the liquid, and the heat absorbed by the calorimeter and the liquid is equal to the heat given off by the metals.

Answer 3

Its all guess work. How can you tell how many calories in a ham roll with tomatoes and salad?