Values for fibre

Our client reached out for help with an issue they were having with the values for fibre in some of their products.

The calculated results from NutriCalc for fibre for these products were very much higher than the values from the laboratory (eg 13.1% v 0.7%). 
The client’s customer asked how the calculated results could be so much higher.

We asked the client to forward a copy of their recipe file to enable us to see the recipe ingredients.  It is important in the first instance to look at the product, recipe and ingredient specifications to check for any obvious errors in the data input etc.  However, we could see that all was just as it should be.

With our knowledge of the chemical composition of foods, we were aware that, because the product contained inulin, it was important for us to find out from the laboratory which method had been used to determine the fibre.  Inulin is a soluble fibre and there are two specialised methods for including soluble fibre in the final fibre value.

Our suspicions were confirmed: the lab was using a general method for fibre determination (the only one most laboratories have in use), in which the majority of the fibre was lost in the process.

After re-testing using a suitable method, the client was able to obtain a value that was a close match to the calculated result.