Why do vitamin pills register as -1 calories?

Alix68

Hi,
Today I started taking Activ-Max multi vitamin and iron tablets, as I found that even if I eat lots of fruit, nuts and salad, there are still some vitamins that I'm low on (according to the mfp nutrition guide, anyway). When I added the tablet to my food diary using the bar code scanner, it showed -1 calories - how can that be?

Phrick

somebody entered it wrong, and connected the barcode to that incorrect entry, and you just learned a valuable lesson: the barcode scanner is often wrong (this whole system is only as accurate as the people using it) and it pays to double-, sometimes even triple-check what you're putting in your diary!

Alix68

Interesting, I had thought that that was the most accurate measure! Thanks for that.

cbelc2

...and black coffee is 2 calories per cup. Maybe your vitamin has a calorie!

positivepowers

Vitamins - all pills, really, have inactive ingredients that are used to bind the active ingredients together. Sometimes those binders have calories.

My question is: Why are you logging vitamins? Are the very minimal amounts really worth logging?

usmcmp

The person who created the entry may have wanted to track that they were taking vitamins without having to track the calories. Some people track them simply to remember to take them or to ensure they are getting adequate micros.