Question

During a nutrition lab, students compared these items:

Protein bar: 18 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat, plus calcium and vitamin C.
Bottle of water: 0 g protein, carbohydrate, or fat; contains dissolved minerals.
Diet soda: 0 g protein, carbohydrate, or fat; has artificial sweetener.
Potato chips: 3 g protein, 24 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat, trace sodium.
They also reviewed macromolecule diagrams and learned that all carbohydrates, fats, and proteins contain C, H, O atoms, while proteins also contain N atoms.

Some students argued that water and diet soda should count as food because we consume them. Others thought minerals should count as food because they’re needed for survival.



Scientists define food as any substance that provides energy and/or molecular building blocks.


Which of the following items count as food under this definition?
(Select ALL that apply.) 2 items

Responses

E. The potato chips — they have macronutrients (C, H, O-based) that provide energy and matter.
E. The potato chips — they have macronutrients (C, H, O-based) that provide energy and matter.

D. The diet soda — it contains artificial sweetener so it can provide some molecular building blocks.
D. The diet soda — it contains artificial sweetener so it can provide some molecular building blocks.

B. The calcium in the protein bar — it provides energy because it’s on the nutrition label.
B. The calcium in the protein bar — it provides energy because it’s on the nutrition label.

A. The protein bar — it contains carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that can be broken down for energy and matter.
A. The protein bar — it contains carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that can be broken down for energy and matter.

C. The bottle of water — it hydrates cells but supplies no usable energy or building blocks.

Answer 1

Select A and E.

- A (protein bar): contains proteins, fats, and carbohydrates — sources of energy and molecular building blocks (C, H, O, N).
- E (potato chips): contains fats and carbohydrates (and some protein) — provide energy and carbon for building biomass.

Why the others are excluded:
- Diet soda: artificial sweeteners in diet soda are generally noncaloric and not significant sources of energy or usable organic building blocks.
- Bottle of water: required for life but does not provide energy or organic building blocks.
- Calcium alone: an essential mineral, not a source of metabolic energy or organic carbon used as building-block molecules (so not “food” by this definition).