Total fat
What it is
The fat figure covers all the fat in a product: saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and trans, together in one number. It is mandatory in virtually every market, and in many it comes with a breakdown of saturates, the subfield regulations treat as most relevant. The rest of the breakdown — monounsaturated, polyunsaturated — is usually voluntary, so most products do not declare it. Fat provides 9 kcal per gram, more than twice protein or carbohydrate. That is why it weighs so heavily on the energy figure.
Why BOTIA flags it
BOTIA flags total fat because the number alone says little: olive oil and lard can declare similar figures, but their composition is very different. And because front-of-pack thresholds are jurisdiction-specific. A criterion used in one country should not automatically be transferred to another market: the rules, categories and calculation basis can differ.
BOTIA CAN
- Read the declared value and keep its unit and its basis.
- Show whatever breakdown the label declares: saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, trans.
- Show the reference that applies in the market where the product was labelled, and name the authority that publishes it.
BOTIA CANNOT
- Tell you what percentage of your own needs this value represents.
- Work out the type of fat from the total. If the breakdown is not declared, it cannot be known.
- Apply one country's front-of-pack threshold to a product labelled in another. The criteria and the bases of calculation differ.
- Say that a product with more fat is worse than one with less. It depends on the type of fat, the product and the whole diet.