Macronutrients: Now there are 4

Contrary to popular misconception there are four not three macronutrients that provide food calories. Food labelling regulations from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) include fibre as a distinct macronutrient group and when calculating energy content of food require the fibre content be allocated 2 kilo calories per gram in addition to the customary 4 kcal/g for carbohydrate and protein and 9 kcal/g for fat.

ESFA list Fibre separately and allocates 2 kcal/g energy content for food labelling. On the other hand, the US FDA allocates zero energy to the fibre in foods. The EFSA arbitrary 2 kcal/g assumes that some fibre is converted to short chain fatty acids by gut microbes which provide energy for their host. The truth is anybody’s guess and m