It seems that more and more people are becoming concerned with calories and weight loss, and food manufacturers appear to be cashing in on this craze by creating foods that are 50, 75 or even 95 percent fat free. But, what does this really mean? Are these foods lower in calories that the full-fat options? This article examines the truth behind reduced fat food products.

Before we begin to consider the question regarding whether or not 95 percent fat-free means only 5 percent of the calories come from fat, we must actually have an understanding of how calories work. Most people understand that all food contains grams of fat, carbohydrates and protein--but not everyone may realize that these grams are worth different amounts of calories. Protein and carbohydrates each contain 4 calories per gram, while alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, and fat contains 9 calories per gram. This means that if you have one gram of protein or carbohydrate, and one gram of fat, that fat will have over twice the numbers of calories as that of the protein or carbohydrate gram. But, how does this relate to the question stated above?

To determine if 95 percent fat-free really means that only five percent of the calories come from fat, we must do some math. To make the math simple, let's say that you have a food item that is composed of 100 grams of carbohydrates and fat. According to the label, it is 95% fat-free. This means that 95 of the grams in the food item should be carbohydrate--so 95 grams of carbohydrate times 4 calories per gram gives us 380 calories coming from carbohydrate. The remaining 5 grams will therefore come from fat--so 5 grams times 9 calories per gram gives us 45 calories coming from fat. 380 carbohydrate calories plus 45 fat calories gives us a total of 425 calories in our food product. Five percent of 425 is 21 calories--but with our math, we found that there were actually 45 calories from fat in the food product. This is nearly twice the 5 percent that we were hoping to get!

It appears that 95 percent fat-free does not, in fact, mean that only 5 percent of the calories come from fat. While this can be disappointing for people who are concerned about either their dietary fat consumption or weight loss, don't fret. You can still limit fat and calorie intake by keeping some basic guidelines in mind.

First, consume high amounts of fruits and vegetables, which are naturally low in fat. Next, when choosing processed food, be sure to read the label carefully to determine how many fat gram and calories you are actually getting. This will help you limit fat intake, and reduce weight gain.