Rounding rules
Rounding rules are used to round a parameter value to a specific level of precision for a food product label. Rounding can be up or down.
Government agencies provide ways to define ingredients on a label to minimize risk. Two agencies are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). For example, sodium is rounded higher to minimize the risk of consuming it. Potassium is rounded down and the true value is probably higher.
Rounding rules define a range of values and precision level for parameters. For example, X is the lower limit, Y is the upper limit.
If the value is in the range between X and Y, round that value to the nearest Z.
Qualifier at the limit of the range
In the Rounding Rule Definition form, either the lower boundary or upper boundary of the rule segment can include the boundary limit itself.
In this example, the second row rounds to the nearest value of 5 if the lower and upper limits are between 11 and 140 inclusive.
Examples of rounding with this rule are:
- 2.6 rounds to 2
- 72.6 rounds to 75
- 132.6 rounds to 130
Overlaps
In the Rounding Rule Definition form, there can be overlaps between the lower limit and the upper limit. Be careful when constructing rules. In this example, if the lower limit were >=, rounding to 2 conflicts with rounding to 5 because both limit boundaries are set to 10.
There are six rounding rules that are standard for the food industry.
