In eight cities across the country, Scripps television stations bought items off the low fat/low calorie menus at Macaroni Grill, Chili’s, Applebee’s, Cheesecake Factory and Taco Bell.
Staff members placed each sample in a Ziploc bag, labeled it and packed it on ice in a cooler.
Next, each station shipped their samples overnight to EPA-certified Analytical Laboratories in Boise, Idaho.
Once the food arrived at ALI (Analytical Laboratories, Inc), lab technicians unpacked, logged and weighed each sample. Then, to simulate how the human body digests food, the lab put each sample in a food processor.
ALI food chemist, Mark Gabiola, washed the food sample in ether alcohol to separate the oil and make it easier to extract the fat.
Next, Gabiola placed each sample in a dish and heated it to a set temperature that removes the ether. ALI chemists weighed the fat left behind and mathematically determined the percentage of fat in the original sample.
To calculate the calories in each of our food samples, ALI multiplied every gram of fat by nine, every gram of carbohydrates by four and every gram of protein by four. Analysts added these numbers together to determine the total calories in each sample.
Fat Analysis:
The food is broken down by a simulated digestion process, much like our bodies would digest the food. The fat portion of the food is removed by washing the food sample in ether. The fat remains with the ether solution which is then placed in a dish and heated to a set temperature that drives off the ether, but leaves the fat behind. The fat is then weighed and we mathematically determine the percentage of fat in the original sample.
Calories Analysis:
Calories are mathematically determined by multiplying every gram of fat by nine, every gram of carbohydrate by four and every gram of protein by four. These values are then added together to determine total calories. If the food were to have alcohol in it, we would multiply the alcohol by seven and include this value in the total calories. The other parts of the food do not produce any calories; that being the moisture, vitamins or minerals.
