How do the creators of food products, know how many calouries are in their product? How do they find this out??

Question: How do the creators of food products, know how many calouries are in their product? How do they find this out??

Asked by 9chadh to Antonia, Douglas, Hugh, Matt, Tom on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.
- Matthew Hurley answered on 18 Jun 2010:
  
  They put it in a calorimeter – burn it to smithereens and measure the energy that comes out!
- Tom Hardy answered on 18 Jun 2010:
  
  Calorie is just a word we use to describe a unit of energy. A device called a calorimeter can be used to measure the heat of chemical reactions, physical changes or heat capacity. Basically, a calorimeter is made up of a thermometer attached to a metal container full of water which is positioned above a chamber. A sample of the food product would be put into the chamber and combusted. The temperature change that occurs is used to work out the specific heat capacity of the food product and also the energy involved in the combustion (burning) reaction. Some maths is then used to work out the calorie content!
- Douglas Blane answered on 18 Jun 2010:
  
  We need energy to move our muscles, keep us warm and do all the other work that goes on inside our bodies. We get that energy from food. How?
  
  Well, we digest food – break it down – in our stomachs and intestines. Then it gets carried in our blood to every cell in our bodies.
  
  Those cells get the energy out of the food by combining it with oxygen. That’s also carried in the blood – from our lungs.
  
  The number of calories in a food tells you how much energy the cells get when they combine that food with oxygen.
  
  So how does that help? Well we can combine things with oxygen outside our bodies quite easily.
  
  It’s called burning.
  
  So scientists find out how many calories are in a food by burning it.
  
  Have a look here to see them doing it: http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/05/27/how-is-the-amount-of-calories-in-food-determined/.
  
  This one is more fun. No measuring, just exploding: http://tinyurl.com/338h65a
- Hugh Roderick answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  They work it out by burning the food. The amount of energy (or calories) contained in that food can be measured by the amount the burning of the food increases 1ooml of water. A calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water (one ml) by one degree Celsius.

Question: How do the creators of food products, know how many calouries are in their product? How do they find this out??

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