You may be eating something that you think will help you, dazzled as you are by advertising and promotions, but you may end up shortchanged.
Allure had an interesting talk the other day with expert nutritionist Ma. Nenita Umali, manager of the St. Luke’s Center for Weight Management and Clinical Nutrition, and chemist and businesswoman Pinky Tobiano, a cancer survivor who has made it her advocacy to make people aware of what they eat  the unglazed truth and nothing but.
Here are some nuggets of food wisdom from our conversation to chew on:
Allure: When does a food product rightfully earn the label "fortified?" When can it claim to be fortified?
Umali: Usually, it passes through a process. If it claims to have fortification, for example fortified with iron, fortified with vitamins, it has to have approval of course of the BFAD (Bureau of Food and Drugs). Then a certain product will be fortified with certain nutrients.
Allure: So before they put the word "fortified," it has to pass through BFAD?
Umali: Yes. It’s like a process of acceptance.
Allure: How about the level? If a certain brand of noodles claims to be fortified with vitamins, but the amount is negligible?
Umali: That’s it. We wouldn’t know as consumers how much. No certain food or food product could give you all the vitamins and minerals that you need. If you eat a balanced meal for your age, for your height, for your weight, then that would suffice for your requirements. We need additional vitamins and minerals especially for risk groups and pregnant women.
Allure: So when you say fortified, indeed it is fortified but the amount is not regulated? You say, fortified with calcium...
Umali: I really wouldn’t be very specific on any product that would say this is fortified with so much... If you want to make sure, you can send it to a testing lab, Qualibet, so you can determine the amount of calcium etc.
Pinky Tobiano: We verify claims at Qualibet.
Allure: What are the recommended dosages of supplements?
Umali: We have a standard table that we follow for every age group.
Allure: The service offered by Qualibet is how not to mislead the public that whatever it claims to be fortified with, it’s in the right quantity?
Tobiano: We check if the product contains what the labels say. Consumer information is not the privilege of the rich people. It’s the right of every consumer in the Philippines to know the nutritional facts so my advocacy now  I’m a cancer survivor  I want to know the nutritional facts of what Pinoys eat. In the States, it’s there eh. Even the butter, you know the salt, the fat, the protein, the preservatives. So it’s not the privilege of those who can pay, but it’s the right of all consumers to know. So being a responsible manufacturer, they should do provide us with the right labels. That’s my advocacy here.
Allure: But I notice now that they do list down the ingredients already.
Umali: Most of the products...
Allure: Except that it’s Greek for most of us. Anyway, what’s a good diet in a nutshell?
Umali: In a good diet, you have to make sure that the three macro nutritional groups, which are carbohydrates, protein, fats, are all present. So it will be balanced. There’s no such thing as a one pill that you could just take in that is complete. So you would have to eat a variety of foods. And if you have to take in variety, not just two items. For example, rice doesn’t contain fats. Meat doesn’t contain carbs and fruits don’t contain protein and fats. You need all these macronutrients for your energy, for building your muscles. So you make sure that it’s balanced, it’s within your requirements. If you’re overweight, you have to cut down on your calories. If you’re underweight, you have to take more of the calories.
Allure: But you should have all those three present...
Umali: Yes, yes. Of course, consider the quantity. Some individuals could have some problems  hypertension, diabetes. We would be considering those in the meal plan. A client would probably have to limit his sodium intake so no salt, patis, vetsin. You just have to make sure that the quantities are within his or her requirements.
Allure: For example, I’m not fat but I just want to lose a few pounds. What’s the best diet?
Umali: You can follow a healthy balanced diet, meaning you can take everything. If you’re not overweight or you’re not obese, just take everything, a little of anything of pork, anything. You have to take everything in moderation.
Allure: Does bread have less calories than rice?
Umali: No actually, the same. Half cup of rice is equivalent to two slices of bread.
Allure: But how come the idea that if you take rice, you gain weight...
Umali: Bread and rice are carbohydrates, especially if you take them in large amounts. If you don’t burn the calories, you really get fat. But as long as you can burn what you take in with regular activities and exercise, that’s okay.
Allure: What are the benefits or non-benefits of the "Nothing-after-6 diet?"
Umali: The idea of eating less at night is acceptable because you don’t burn enough calories during nighttime because you’re at rest. In fact, we’re recommending that you eat more for breakfast, then some for lunch and a little for dinner. As to what time you should stop eating, it depends on what time you retire or sleep. Three to four hours before you sleep is a good time to stop eating so you burn whatever you had eaten. And of course, it depends on what you had eaten. Like if it’s fat, so stored form of energy so slower to burn rather than carbs. Fat is a form of energy but it’s stored.
Allure: So if you go on a no-carbs diet, you actually burn stored fats?
UMALI: If you use more of the fat as a source of your calories, yes. You could go on a no-carbs diet initially to jump-start your diet. Then probably what we would normally recommend is to maintain a healthy diet wherein you can take little amount of carbs, little protein, because if too much protein, you could also have problems with your kidney.
Allure: How about people who fast? What is the maximum length of time that you could fast?
UMALI: We normally don’t recommend fasting, not unless it’s needed for a diagnostic exam, that’s all. It’s not good, for example, for your blood sugar. When you fast, there are no calories or nutrients in your body, then you have hypoglycemia.
Allure: Even just one day?
UMALI: One day, I think if there are no nutrients, I really don’t think it’s good. Water is also a nutrient but it cannot provide all...
Allure: How about cleansing diets?
UMALI: We won’t recommend it. Water is a nutrient also, we have to drink a lot of water for some therapeutic purposes. But if you don’t have energy or nutrients, it’s not also good. If needed in some diagnostic exams like 10 to 12 hours, then you can fast.
(For inquiries about food testing, you may call Gigi or Ivy at 374-8003 or 372-7993 or visit www.qualibetlab.com)