Improving data in food database

boku70
boku70 Posts: 80
in Food and Nutrition
Hi.

It sure would be great if more people could include actual measures with their food-database entries. In other words, actual oz or grams.

A serving size like "1 slice," "1 serving," "1 piece," etc. isn't terribly informative, because these are totally different from person to person. But giving actual measures is very helpful.

thanks
b

Replies

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Honestly, I think the MFP database is beyond repair. They'd be best served to totally delete it and start over. Even the non-user entries are not correct when compared to other search engines like USDA.
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    edited December 2014
    The vast majority of what is in there is utterly worthless. Would be much better to dump the whole "user-submitted" concept, unless it was accompanied by an actual nutrition label (IE - the information came off of a food label). If someone wants to submit their own items, keep them private only to that user account. It helps nobody to have "Home made beef barley soup" in there.
  • brightsideofpink
    brightsideofpink Posts: 1,018 Member
    I used to do weight watchers online. While the MFP database is undoubtedly much more extensive, one of the features I liked about ww online is that it was very easy to filter out the "official" entries from the user entries. It also kept your own entries and recipes out of the database unless you asked for them to be submitted.
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
    Has anyone else noticed the nutrition labels on packages not matching the labels shown on the same items website? I noticed this the other day with instant potatoes. The label on the box i was holding in my hand did not match what they had listed on the site. I don't mean unprepared compared to prepared, i was just comparing the unprepared info. The same thing happened with some other packaged items i purchased.

    If the manufacturers can't be consistent with their labeling and manufacturing then the database will have many variations no matter what.

    I too like the idea of keeping track of my own items and not sharing them.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I have certainly seen some messed up entries in there. It would be nice if there were some kind of quality control on the food/nutrition listings.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Honestly, I think the MFP database is beyond repair. They'd be best served to totally delete it and start over. Even the non-user entries are not correct when compared to other search engines like USDA.

    Agree totally. I quick-add almost all of my calories now.
  • JoeyFrappuccino
    JoeyFrappuccino Posts: 88 Member
    I've only found a few things that are accurate in the database. Every time I eat something I haven't before, I just create a new food entry and enter whatever the label says (or the USDA if it's something like produce). I can't remember the last time I actually used the database, even if the info is accurate (rare), the serving size will make it unusable. I also wish there was a way to block out the database and only see your own entries.

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