Proximate

For the linguistic sense, see Grammatical person.

What people consider proximates may vary, but usually includes:

• Water
• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Dietary fibres
• Fatty acids
• Ash
• Vitamins
• Dietary minerals
• Alcohol

What makes proximates particular is that the total of their presence in the food must always sum up to 100%. The nutritional information on food containers usually specifies the nutrients in terms of proximates, but these seldom add up to 100%, indicating that the manufacturer left out some of the insignificant ones such as water.