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Case Study: 06

Title: Mission (almost) Impossible

This pack of fresh pasta provides no easy data to enable a discerning customer to arrive at a quick decision on how to prepare a portion of the product to deliver a given kcal.

Not shown are the cooking instructions which includes adding a tablespoon of olive oil (904 kcal per 100g) to the water in which the product is cooked. Not something I have ever done or would do. You might, I would not. My choice.

The at-first-glance stated 100 kcal per 100g appears an attractive option but it is not what it seems. That is when it is (cooked as per instructions). Not what I, or you, need to know.

They could easily have provided accurate information on the produce as-sold. We therefore have to do some mathematics but in doing so have to use some information which may be unreliable. In particular, the approximate weight when 125g is cooked.

Usefully, the TABLES spreadsheet is designed to deliver an answer for us. The result is 265 kcal per 100g (as-sold), though in theory it may be less as their cooking water is contaminated with olive oil (904 kcal per 100g). However, by omitting the olive oil we are erring on the side of caution. Use 265 in your spreadsheet kcal column. NB: I recall one recipe calling for 12 tablespoons of olive oil !

Emails to customer service were a waste of time. Not interested. Customer services are notoriously useless, except with online shopping where they have to be good. Had they been on TV answering questions, they would have been all ears. This is or rather was another own-brand (we control the label) product I used to buy; it is about principles. NB: I sometimes compile tasty mixes of products with a dash of soy sauce for mobile lunches when working out in the field. It helps to know exactly what I am compiling.

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