At 17:26 +1000 9/4/1999, Aaron A. Weiss wrote:

>(By the way, I noticed that the package of pecans I bought said it had
>four grams total carbs and three grams fiber carbs.  That's a three to one
>ratio of fiber carbs to digestible carbs. However, when I accessed the
>USDA database online through Nutrition Analysis Tool at
>http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~food-lab/nat/mainnat.html

That page uses version 8 of the USDA database. You can find version 12
of the database at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR12/sr12.html


>pecans were listed at
>five grams total carbs and only two grams fiber carbs.  That's a much less
>attractive two to three ratio.  Does anyone know what sources of
>nutritional information are reliable?

In general the data supplied on the back of the pack is probably more
reliable than the database, as the supplier is likely to have tested
product with a similar composition to the one in the pack.

The USDA data refers to a sample of food that may bear little resemblance
to the food in your package :)

 ...Richard.