Nutrition Information on a can of Fat Free Reddi Whip

October 12, 2007 11:18 AM

In a can of Reddi Wip Fat Free, which claims to contain 40 servings at 5 calories each, are there really just 200 calories in the whole can? (In other words, are they allowed to round down the exact serving size and/or number of calories, when the serving size is so tiny?) If not, what's the max number of calories that could actually be in there, and is there any way I can find out that true exact number?
posted by sparrows to food & drink (22 comments total)

Even if it were six calories it would still only be 240 total. What's the problem here?
posted by caddis at 11:26 AM on October 12, 2007

Yes, the manufacturer is allowed to round down the nutritional content of each individual serving. For calores-per-serving of less than 50, the manufacturer can round to the nearest 5-calorie increment. This means that the maximum calories per can would be about 7.49*40 calories. So the total number of calories in the full can would be somewhere between 200 and 300. Unless you're regularly consuming entire cans of Reddi Whip, it seems useless to try to determine the "true exact" calorie content of the product. Mere differences in absorption from person to person, and from one mealtime to another should make the consumption of 5 or 10 servings of the product pretty much insignificantly different from 8 or 12 servings.
posted by rxrfrx at 11:26 AM on October 12, 2007

Plus, good luck getting the cream dregs out of the can unless you have a remarkable dispensing technique.
posted by Gucky at 11:31 AM on October 12, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Sidenote about rounding down: Often you will see something like "0 carbs per serving!" or "0g lactose per serving!" There's a reason they phrase it like that, and it's not because it sounds better than "lactose-free."
posted by Partial Law at 11:49 AM on October 12, 2007

It's zero calories if you only want the nitrous oxide.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 11:49 AM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Good point, Gucky. I wonder if there are can openers out there that can cope with aerosol cans.
posted by jamjam at 11:53 AM on October 12, 2007

Dieters at the office report you can take the chocolate version and freeze it in stemmed glasses, and it tastes like chocolate mouse.
/ slight tangent
posted by unrepentanthippie at 11:53 AM on October 12, 2007

Did you mean chocolate moose?

Also, most people don't precisely measure the amount of whipped topping they use, so that variation probably eclipses the rounding error.
posted by TedW at 12:13 PM on October 12, 2007

Perfect, rxrfrx, thank you!

It matters because for a while I decided to eat 1500 calories of very healthy simple stuff plus 200 calories of "anything else" a day.

I noticed the Reddi Wip can is maybe the most delicious fun I can have with 200 calories if I eat it at intervals across one day.

I'll go ahead and count it as 300 calories (I know the real max is more like 280 or 290 since I can't get at the last bits in the can, but why not keep it simple). So at most I could have two cans over three days.

That's a great tangent, unrepentanthippie.

Anybody else want to add favorite whipped cream ideas? (Aside from the obvious naughty ones)
posted by sparrows at 12:26 PM on October 12, 2007

Well, the whole can is only 7 oz, and the ingredients are alleged to be

Grade a whole milk,* sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, grade A cream,* inulin (polyfructose), non-fat dry milk solids, modified food starch, cellulose gum, mono- and diglycerides, artificial color, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, polysorbate 80, lecithin, carrageenan, guar gum, nitrous oxide (propellant).
*Adds trivial amount of fat.


Whole milk is 17 KCal per oz, so the whole can would contain less than 119 KCal from that component (7 x 17). Sucrose is 108 KCal per oz, so if you figure 6 oz are milk and one is sugar, the can total is 210 KCal.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:33 PM on October 12, 2007

My mom swears by Reddi Wip on graham crackers. There's some miraculous WW point value attached to that snack, since in WW they count fiber against calories.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:34 PM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

mouse/mousse
Sorry; sick; overmedicated.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 1:57 PM on October 12, 2007

I can add nothing to this thread, but you, madam, are AWESOME.

(I used to eat Reddi-Whip straight out of the can when I was studying for exams. I don't know why.)
posted by fuzzbean at 2:09 PM on October 12, 2007

For calores-per-serving of less than 50, the manufacturer can round to the nearest 5-calorie increment.

This also explains things like spray oil that are zero calories.
posted by smackfu at 2:56 PM on October 12, 2007

Please don't eat a whole can of fat-free whipped cream. I have this sinking feeling it might make you poop your pants or something. Try half a can and see how you feel. Stay near the bathroom.
posted by SassHat at 3:39 PM on October 12, 2007

mouse/mousse
Sorry; sick; overmedicated.

I was just having a little fun; my typos are usually much worse. I hope you weren't offended.
posted by TedW at 5:02 PM on October 12, 2007

Not at all.
Mine are usually worse than that.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 6:25 PM on October 12, 2007

The WW recipe is to put ReddiWhip on chocolate graham crackers, then freeze it. After awhile it tastes like an ice cream sandwich. I used to make these when I was on WW, and ended up eating them all at the same time. They're really good.
posted by la petite marie at 6:33 PM on October 12, 2007

How many points were those frozen-whipped-cream sandwiches? They must be one to be worthwhile, right? Even then, I can't imagine two of those would be better than one of these (and they're big!).
posted by booksandlibretti at 7:32 PM on October 12, 2007

... is there any way I can find out that true exact number?

The way the pros determine food caloric content is to burn it. They then measure the amount of energy produced by the reaction. Wikipedia link.
posted by philomathoholic at 12:35 AM on October 13, 2007

How many points were those frozen-whipped-cream sandwiches?
It was either one point or two, I don't remember.
posted by la petite marie at 9:38 AM on October 13, 2007

For anybody who thinks this is weird (or awesome for that matter)... it's just a 7-ounce glass of milk flavored with cream and sugars, plus some kind of propellant that doesn't matter nutritionally. Think about all the Starbucks drinks that have twice as many calories (and cost twice as much :))
posted by sparrows at 11:10 AM on November 12, 2007