Introducing the Net Atkins Count
A breakthrough scientific method to validate Atkins net carb labeling and raise the bar for the accuracy of controlled-carb product labels

A breaking news story in The Wall Street Journal on October 6, 2004, reports on the unique scientific method Atkins has developed to substantiate the low glycemic impact of Atkins products and confirm the accuracy of Atkins net carb labeling claims. Net carbs are those carbohydrates that have a significant impact on blood-sugar levels, and limiting net carbs is the most critical factor for people who wish to successfully follow the Atkins Nutritional Approach™.

To date, food manufacturers have relied on a simple subtraction method to approximate net carbs, subtracting carbs that have a negligible impact on blood sugar, specifically fiber, glycerine and sugar alcohols, from total carbs. Atkins too utilized this subtraction method, and Atkins labels accurately reflected the net carb count of Atkins products based on state-of-the-art science at the time of manufacture. But now, Atkins has developed a patent-pending clinical method that actually measures the glycemic impact of specific products. As a result, Atkins label claims are validated by actual clinical testing, as well as the subtraction method.

We have begun to use this new method to validate the number of net carbs in Atkins food products so that you can be assured that our product labeling is supported by the best scientific methods available. Going forward, on its next generation of labels, Atkins will use the term Net Atkins Count™ to express this clinically validated number for its products and to distinguish it from terms such as net carbs used previously.

Here are answers to the questions you may have.

Q: Why the change?
In most instances, the old subtraction method provides an accurate result, but in a few cases, Atkins believes that due to a combination of ingredients and manufacturing processes, the calculation reached by subtraction is not as accurate as the result determined by this new scientific method. Atkins saw an opportunity to develop a better tool to help people succeed on Atkins. We are delighted to tell you that the new Atkins testing method has confirmed that the vast majority of Atkins products will carry the same information on the label as before. The few products that tested outside of the acceptable range, either higher or lower versus the current net carb count, will be relabeled, reformulated or discontinued, as appropriate (see chart for details). The products that tested higher than the acceptable range are not products recommended for the Induction phase of Atkins and there is no health risk associated with consuming these products. With this new technology, there is no question that the Net Atkins Count™ provides the most accurate number to utilize when following a controlled-carbohydrate lifestyle.

Q: Who developed this new method, and how does it work?
Atkins food scientists and Thomas Wolever, Ph.D., M.D., one of the world’s leading clinical nutritionists, developed this patent-pending method using advanced clinical testing rather than relying on calculations. Working at an independent lab over the past three years, Dr. Wolever has been conducting clinical trials to measure human blood-sugar response. He evaluates a person’s baseline blood-sugar level and then tracks the body’s response to foods the individual eats. Such data is gathered through tests that measure actual increases in blood sugar. Similar tests are also performed on other people, resulting in an average blood-sugar response for the group, which becomes the Net Atkins Count.

Dr. Wolever is no stranger to low-carbohydrate nutrition and research. Acting chair of the department for nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, he is an internationally renowned expert in glucose metabolism and dietary carbohydrates. One of the pioneers in the development of the glycemic index, Dr. Wolever also heads up a glycemic index testing organization.

Q: How is the Net Atkins Count different from the glycemic index?
The glycemic index (GI) is also a way to measure the impact various foods have on blood-sugar response in humans, but it differs significantly from the new Atkins method. In the case of the GI, a subject consumes a portion of food that contains 25 or 50 grams of carbohydrate to establish the blood-sugar response. That response is then compared to the response elicited by 25 grams or 50 grams of a standard, such as glucose, or sugar, solution. The comparison results in a percentage (the tested food relative to the standard); that number is the food’s GI ranking. The problem with the GI is that it is not based on realistic serving sizes and it cannot take into account ingredient interactions. We believe our new technique is a great improvement over the GI.

Q: So does this mean there is a new Atkins?
Absolutely not. There isn’t a new Atkins and there isn’t a new Atkins Nutritional Approach™. Instead, based on advanced scientific testing, there is now a better method for validating the glycemic impact of Atkins’ foods products. In Atkins for Life, published a year before his death, Dr. Atkins introduced the Atkins Glycemic Ranking (AGR) as a way to help people easily understand the glycemic impact of carbohydrates in whole foods. Now, this new method is the best way available to measure the impact of manufactured food products.

Q: What does all of this mean for me?
It doesn’t change anything for people doing Atkins, except that you can rest assured that cutting-edge science is being used to make sure that Atkins products are labeled with the most accurate information available. You will eventually see the new term Net Atkins Count™ on our next generation of labels, and you may notice that a very few products are being reformulated as a result of this more comprehensive way of testing. Except in these few instances, the new science has simply confirmed the accuracy of Atkins’ labels and is yet another sign that Atkins is—and always will be—the pioneer and leader in low-carb nutrition.

View chart of Net Atkins Count information for both Atkins brand and Atkins endorsed products.

Full article:
http://atkins.com/Archive/2004/10/5-366283.html

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Clear as mud!


It seems to be a mishmash of GI and GL concepts - but that doesn't explain how some products that under the old subtraction system had a net count of 7g (bagels) now have a new figure of 4g. Are they now going to retest ordinary whole foods on the same basis??

Cheers,

Malcolm

PS I sent them an email;

"I have read your explanation as to how this works and I am still none the wiser!

You say your test is similar to, but different from the GI index test. If this is so can you explain in detail what is accomplished on each test? The glycemic response is measured - for how long after consumption? Against which standard food(s) is this response compared? How have you standardised the insulin resistance of your test subjects? Your result is not a percentage - are you saying that if you get a glycemic response of (say)75% of the standard food you then apply that percentage to your previous subtraction based net carbs figure (in that example reducing a net carb figure of 8g to 6g)?

Surely for the public to have any confidence in your new standard you will have to release far more details as to how it is calculated.

I will be interested in your response.

Regards,

Good response, and good questions.

Sounds like a new marketing campaign to me. They want/need to separate Atkins from other brands, mainly because they have been market share to all the new brands.

They are attempting to get a patent so that their brand cannot be eroded by other copy cat manufacturers.

I predict that this little ploy will not work, and they may not even get the patent.

I sincerely hope that someone will come along to fill Dr. Atkins shoes as a cogent spokesperson for low carb, whole food, and take the attention away from all the "low carb" junk food. YMMV

Sounds like they're just doing GI using recommended portion sizes, which is an improvement. Of course, that is subject to our own eating patterns too. If I eat a meal with four components, its likely that I'll get a different glucose response than if I ate each one individually. Or if I eat a double helping of a single food, I don't know that it is guaranteed that I'll get double the response, either for glucose concentration or duration of the elevation (if it did, then we could simply use GI and extrapolate).

Personally, I'm trying to avoid as many of the low carb processed foods as possible, so this info is of limited use to me. But more power to them, the more research we do on this way of eating, the better. I'm really tempted to buy myself a glucose meter and do my own research on myself.

I have just checked Atkins website for new low carb products and found none. They are still selling the same Maltitol loaded stuff. So what is this all about?

I think I'll stick to the books... carbs minus fiber, avoid the over-processed junk.

--nw

It sounded to me like they were actually testing the blood of people and not just dealing with the facts. I actually think this way sounds better because you get real-world results.

The only problem I have with this is that eating low GI food can only fix your craving problem. Staying in ketosis is a different subject which has nothing to do with the Glycemic index.

A year ago I was doing tests to see how many carbs are enough to throw me out of ketosis. During that test I discovered that 11 grams of carbohydrate and one Atkins Advantage bar have the same effect on my ketosis state. This has nothing to do with how high or low the Glycemic index of the Atkins bar is.

The article that was in the Wall Street Journal follows for anyone interested. Seems the FDA is about to (finally!) get into carbohydrate labeling.


Atkins to drop 'net carbs'
The change is made ahead of expected FDA edict on carbohydrate labeling.

By SARAH ELLISON

The Wall Street Journal

The company that invented "net carbs," Atkins Nutritionals Inc., says it will drop the widely used term from its food labels, calling it "imprecise."

The move comes just months before the Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue new food-labeling guidelines for carbohydrate content.

Atkins coined the phrase "net carbs" in 2001 to sidestep the FDA's existing guidelines.
Atkins says that next year it will replace the words "net carbs" with a new phrase, "net Atkins count," and a new seal. Atkins says the new term reflects a more-precise method of measuring the carbohydrates in its foods.

The FDA's new guidelines are expected to tighten current rules. The FDA has a broad definition for carbohydrates: It doesn't distinguish among carbohydrate types, simply defining them as what is left after subtracting fat, protein, water and ash from food. The FDA hasn't endorsed the use of the term "net carbs" on food labels, but it hasn't prevented companies from using it, either.
"The labeling laws for carbohydrates are not very clear," says Dale Schoeller, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. "There are a lot of loopholes that companies have found."

The FDA declined to comment on the new guidelines or on Atkins' changes.
Atkins says it presented the "net Atkins count" method to the FDA late last month and expects to use the new term and measurement method on labels. It says it will adjust to comply with new FDA guidelines if necessary.

Executives at the Ronkonkoma, N.Y., company call the old measurement a "compass" and the new one a "global positioning system." But the change includes a dose of marketing as well, as Atkins strives to set itself apart from a tidal wave of competing products.

In the first six months of 2004, major food companies launched 1,865 reduced-carb foods and beverages, according to Marketing Intelligence Service of Naples, N.Y.

The food industry has faced increasing skepticism about nutrient content and labeling. For example, many companies, including Atkins at one time, calculate a product's "net carbs" by subtracting grams of fiber and sugar alcohols from the total carbohydrate grams. That calculation allows food makers to cook up starchy, sweet products and call them "low carb." But one thing the calculation doesn't take into account is that sugar alcohols raise blood-sugar levels, just as "net carbs" do.

It is going to be interesting to see what the FDA will say about carbohydrate labeling.

Officially, the FDA still believes that people should eat more carbs and less fat. So what is their intention? Is it to catch the food manufacturers who claim that their products contain less carbs than they really do or is it the other way around?

If I can trust my memory, one high official at the FDA was asked a year ago about his opinion concerning a suggestion to add the Glycemic Index to the food label. His answer was "They claim that foods which cause sudden rise in blood sugar can cause people to eat more. One can also argue that this may cause people to eat less."