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Say what you will
Replies
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sheermomentum wrote: »ColinsMommaOC wrote: »Nutritional Information on Pre-packaged foods have a margin of error up to 20%.
That 500 calorie pre-packaged food you just scanned, could really be 600 calories.
Just saying...
Nutritional information on ALL foods has a margin of error. Its based on the average of lab tests done on multiple samples. Fat content varies in meat. Sugar content varies in produce. Its all just one big estimate.
That's what I don't get about this argument. People seem to act like packaged food is all wrong and fruit veg and meat is 100% accurate.
But it's all an estimate. Just got to get the best estimate.
The packaged foods I have weighed seem pretty accurate, not out by 100 calories, more like 10.
Maybe packets of lentils or beef from Coles is more accurate than other countries labelling requirements.0 -
gaelicstorm26 wrote: »Liftng4Lis wrote: »Cheesecake isn't prepackaged..... I like cheesecake
Tell my mother-in-law that cheesecake isn't supposed to be prepackaged, haha!
SNORT!0 -
khristiana wrote: »They might be easier to scan into the database, but they are exponentially worse for you, health wise. I'll take my time preparing my food
I prepare a lot of my food too, but I also use things that I've bought in the store that have barcodes to make those things. It's easier to scan in the cheese I'm using than to try and search for it. Unless you also make your own cheese, bread, yogurt, ice cream, crackers, pasta, rice, etc. 0 -
gaelicstorm26 wrote: »Liftng4Lis wrote: »Cheesecake isn't prepackaged..... I like cheesecake
Tell my mother-in-law that cheesecake isn't supposed to be prepackaged, haha!
lol I was just thinking that!0 -
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Since when does scanning a barcode mean you don't weigh your food?
I love doing both. Yay for convenience and accuracy!0 -
khristiana wrote: »They might be easier to scan into the database, but they are exponentially worse for you, health wise. I'll take my time preparing my food
Wow, exponentially worse? Care to elaborate/quantify? Given that whether or not a food is "clean" or not or "healthy" or not is something that is constantly debated in here since everyone has different definitions.... I'm very eager to learn about a system that you've found which not only quantifies the health of an individual food without knowing anything about the context of the consumers overall diet, BUT it is also such a wide scale that there are exponential degrees of variation between healthy and unhealthy..,
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khristiana wrote: »They might be easier to scan into the database, but they are exponentially worse for you, health wise. I'll take my time preparing my food
Oh nos! The bag of fresh clementines I just bought last night has a bar code on the bag! I'd better throw them out, then!0 -
queenliz99 wrote: »I figure the OP is having a go at the clean eaters around here.
That was my thought, as wellsnickerscharlie wrote: »khristiana wrote: »They might be easier to scan into the database, but they are exponentially worse for you, health wise. I'll take my time preparing my food
Oh nos! The bag of fresh clementines I just bought last night has a bar code on the bag! I'd better throw them out, then!
I scan the bar codes, but then remove the bar codes before i eat the food. It's kept out the toxins without having to detox0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »ColinsMommaOC wrote: »Nutritional Information on Pre-packaged foods have a margin of error up to 20%.
That 500 calorie pre-packaged food you just scanned, could really be 600 calories.
Just saying...
Or it could be 400.
Unlikely to be less, otherwise the company is ripping you off by not giving you the quantity stated on the packet.
From my experience of weighing packed food since start of October 2013, less than 5% have weighed less than what has been stated, very few even weigh the amount stated. Most weigh more than what is stated, so scanning will be underestimating the amount of calories you are consuming.
If they are allowed to be within a certain margin and are within a certain margin, then they are not ripping you off.
In Australia, they are required to provide the minimum quantity, maybe differs where you live.
Nevertheless, as I said I have been weighing packed items for well over a year and very few weigh less or even the stated amount, most weigh more. For those who eat packed items regularly, they are eating more calories than they think, on average.
OP is in the US.
The quantity on the package is also required to be the minimum in the US so it should never be less. If it is, take photos and complain to the manufacturer.
Pre-packaged food may be off for 2 reasons:
1) Over-fill. This is very likely which is why you should weigh your Lean Cuisine
2) Standard variation based on averages for agricultural products. This margin of error holds true for all foods, whether you purchased whole ingredients and made your own dinner or Kraft purchased the whole ingredients and made the frozen dinner.
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »Cheesecake isn't prepackaged..... I like cheesecake
I am very well known in my circle for my cheesecakes, especially my key lime cheesecake. The only packaging I do is a layer of Saran Wrap and my Tupperware pie carrier.
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Since when does scanning a barcode mean you don't weigh your food?
I love doing both. Yay for convenience and accuracy!
This is what I was thinking. Why does using a barcode mean you can't also weigh the food? It's way faster than searching for the product first (at least on the app that I log my food on, which I believe is still similar to MFP).0 -
Since when does scanning a barcode mean you don't weigh your food?
I love doing both. Yay for convenience and accuracy!
This is what I was thinking. Why does using a barcode mean you can't also weigh the food? It's way faster than searching for the product first (at least on the app that I log my food on, which I believe is still similar to MFP).
Many either can't or don't want to weigh their food at work. Many also like taking prepared meals to work for the convenience of it. Personally, I eat a frozen dinner maybe once every 2 months or so. I don't worry about if it is off or not. If I ate them a couple of times a week, yes I would definitely weigh them.
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_Terrapin_ wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »
QFT_Terrapin_ wrote: »UprightMan wrote: »Enjoy your cancer.
Hey, jack a**, the person directly above your post has cancer. Well done. You are the definition of douchenozzle.
He should change his username to BarelyUprightMan. Found an avatar for him, too.
Yes, but then an ED (not Education Department or eating disorder think people) company would track him down and make him their spokesperson. hehehe
LMAO!
And Cindy, you're a better person than I, my friend.0 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »_Terrapin_ wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »
QFT_Terrapin_ wrote: »UprightMan wrote: »Enjoy your cancer.
Hey, jack a**, the person directly above your post has cancer. Well done. You are the definition of douchenozzle.
He should change his username to BarelyUprightMan. Found an avatar for him, too.
Yes, but then an ED (not Education Department or eating disorder think people) company would track him down and make him their spokesperson. hehehe
LMAO!
And Cindy, you're a better person than I, my friend.
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snickerscharlie wrote: »khristiana wrote: »They might be easier to scan into the database, but they are exponentially worse for you, health wise. I'll take my time preparing my food
Oh nos! The bag of fresh clementines I just bought last night has a bar code on the bag! I'd better throw them out, then!
Evil, evil processing.0 -
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So, I planned on having a hamburger patty with dinner the other night and when I went to the food data base in MFP found more than several hamburger patties listed with different calorie counts. I went back to my freezer and scaned the bar code from the box and got what I thought was accurate information about THOSE patties. I added that info into the rest of my meal and went on my happy way. I thought I'd share this with the community. Thought that maybe this might be a little helpful. Guess I was wrong. Sorry to have bothered some of you.
azulviolera6; Do you really think insults add to the conversation?0 -
about pre-packaged, processed food products. They sure are easy to log in with the bar code scanner.
lol....weigh it sometime....
i weigh my bread and it is often quite a bit off....i do eat processed prepackaged stuff often enough, but i'd watch that. they're easy to log, but the calorie count can be pretty off, which won't matter with a lot to lose. but with very little to lose, every little bit counts.0 -
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I use the barcode scanner on occasion but I still weigh out what was in the package because sometimes the labels are off.0
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I actually wonder if the '20% variation from the label' takes into account the fact that some products weigh more... or if it's 20% on top of that...0
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »Cheesecake isn't prepackaged..... I like cheesecake
I am very well known in my circle for my cheesecakes, especially my key lime cheesecake. The only packaging I do is a layer of Saran Wrap and my Tupperware pie carrier.
I need the recipe for your key lime cheesecake.
I've never used the scanner. I don't even know if my phone would do it. Anyway, I have too much fun seeing how off the weight is in packaged items.
My favorite is the 454 gram bag of frozen spinach from Trader Joe's. I use the whole bag when I make my spinach-feta quiche. There's always so much more spinach in there!
My son likes weighing my Quest bars. He gets a kick out of finding a new "record-setting" high and low weight. So far, the heaviest bar has been 68 grams, and the lightest has been 52.
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I am so excited! I will be starting as an on call personal trainer with an organization that runs over 13 private health clubs after I had a practical interview yesterday and getting a good review.
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47Jacqueline wrote: »I am so excited! I will be starting as an on call personal trainer with an organization that runs over 13 private health clubs after I had a practical interview yesterday and getting a good review.
Say, what? 0 -
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3dogsrunning wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »ColinsMommaOC wrote: »Nutritional Information on Pre-packaged foods have a margin of error up to 20%.
That 500 calorie pre-packaged food you just scanned, could really be 600 calories.
Just saying...
Or it could be 400.
Unlikely to be less, otherwise the company is ripping you off by not giving you the quantity stated on the packet.
From my experience of weighing packed food since start of October 2013, less than 5% have weighed less than what has been stated, very few even weigh the amount stated. Most weigh more than what is stated, so scanning will be underestimating the amount of calories you are consuming.
If they are allowed to be within a certain margin and are within a certain margin, then they are not ripping you off.
In Australia, they are required to provide the minimum quantity, maybe differs where you live.
Nevertheless, as I said I have been weighing packed items for well over a year and very few weigh less or even the stated amount, most weigh more. For those who eat packed items regularly, they are eating more calories than they think, on average.
Yep. Weigh that stuff, if you can. It's a good idea, to make sure you're not going over your calories. Especially if it's a calorie dense food.
I never realized the calories could be off. I'm glad I read this!0 -
I actually wonder if the '20% variation from the label' takes into account the fact that some products weigh more... or if it's 20% on top of that...
The "20% variation allowance" in nutrition labeling is intended to allow room for the natural variation in agricultural products and is not related to the variation of product weight in the package.
Suppose a bag of dry rice says 1/4 cup (45g) serving is 150 calories, the FDA regulations allow for a particular sample of 45g to actually measure between 120 and 180. Yes, that is a big range, but for certain foods have a lot more variation than others and is a compromise to avoid needing to set extremely granular requirements by type of food.
Weighing food can't remove that source of error, but it does avoid compounding that error with variation in the amount of product in a package or measuring out a portion from a bulk package with cups/spoons/etc.0 -
47Jacqueline wrote: »I am so excited! I will be starting as an on call personal trainer with an organization that runs over 13 private health clubs after I had a practical interview yesterday and getting a good review.
WTH does this have to do with scanning bar codes on packaged food?
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This discussion has been closed.
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