Calorie discrepancy in recipes

Blairlarsen

Hi - I'm new here (though I have read almost all of the helpful posts for newbies). If my question has been answered elsewhere, please forgive me and please point out where I can find the information. Thank you.
That said - here's my query. When I use Recipe Importer and put in a recipe from an online site, and then verify the ingredients and amounts, and the number of servings, I almost always see a discrepancy between the calories MFP shows me and the calories the original recipe web site showed me. For example, I just imported the following recipe into MFP - http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/creamy-baked-spinach
The Taste of Home website says there are 164 calories in each serving (6 servings per recipe) but when I put that recipe into MFP (and adjust ingredients and sizes, etc), it shows calories of approximately 300 (even when I put in that the recipe makes 6 servings).
This happened with another recipe I used last week - the original website listed 211 calories per serving, but MFP showed me about 500 calories per serving. For those who care, the recipe in question is here - http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/tofu-carrot-cacciatore/
I realize I may be over-analyzing, but I just want to know which number to believe - the one on the recipe page, or MFP?
Thanks for your advice!

janejellyroll

One potential cause -- MFP uses database entries to determine what the calories in the finished recipe are. If one of the entries is in error, the final count will be in error also. I would double-check each of the ingredients and see if the calorie counts are accurate.

ammo7

Blairlarsen wrote: »

The Taste of Home website says there are 164 calories in each serving (6 servings per recipe) but when I put that recipe into MFP (and adjust ingredients and sizes, etc), it shows calories of approximately 300 (even when I put in that the recipe makes 6 servings).

That's strange that the numbers can be so different, but I guess it makes sense if you are changing the recipe considerably. Something like adding more of an ingredient can clearly increase the calories, but sometimes we don't realize how much of an impact it can have to make swaps for different ingredients too. This is especially true when we're dealing with something so creamy - it's easy for different brands of products to have vastly different calories. To be most accurate, you could scan the barcodes of the specific products you are using.

Blairlarsen

Thanks for the suggestions! I haven't been altering the recipes, but I'll keep an eye on that. Good idea to scan certain ingredients-thanks!

seska422

Scanning is no more or less accurate than typing the name of the food into the database. You still need to double-check the box to make sure that the member who entered the nutrition info did it correctly.

ammo7

seska422 wrote: »

Scanning is no more or less accurate than typing the name of the food into the database. You still need to double-check the box to make sure that the member who entered the nutrition info did it correctly.

True. I had just meant that it's worth checking that you're inputting the actual item that you're using (whether you scan it or type it), rather than using a default one that someone else has entered.

sharondjs

Blairlarsen wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions! I haven't been altering the recipes, but I'll keep an eye on that. Good idea to scan certain ingredients-thanks!

Hi Blair , i'm new here also & yes i found that also weather the recipe had been updated since it was added here i don't know I've also found quite a few discrepancies on everyday foods but then when ive checked out the different calorie counters they also say different things so I'm thinking that it's more which one people use when they add the food say like watermelon etc , as for the actual recipes i don't know, i'll have a look and see what i can find out maybe some other old hat at this may answer

sharondjs

Blairlarsen wrote: »

Hi - I'm new here (though I have read almost all of the helpful posts for newbies). If my question has been answered elsewhere, please forgive me and please point out where I can find the information. Thank you.
That said - here's my query. When I use Recipe Importer and put in a recipe from an online site, and then verify the ingredients and amounts, and the number of servings, I almost always see a discrepancy between the calories MFP shows me and the calories the original recipe web site showed me. For example, I just imported the following recipe into MFP - http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/creamy-baked-spinach
The Taste of Home website says there are 164 calories in each serving (6 servings per recipe) but when I put that recipe into MFP (and adjust ingredients and sizes, etc), it shows calories of approximately 300 (even when I put in that the recipe makes 6 servings).
This happened with another recipe I used last week - the original website listed 211 calories per serving, but MFP showed me about 500 calories per serving. For those who care, the recipe in question is here - http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/tofu-carrot-cacciatore/
I realize I may be over-analyzing, but I just want to know which number to believe - the one on the recipe page, or MFP?
Thanks for your advice!

Hi Blair , i just checked for this Tofu recipe in the database i couldn't find the exact same recipe & that maybe why the difference in the ratio's , the person who added here used slightly different recipe or different serving sizes maybe

Blairlarsen

Thanks for these suggestions. Let me clarify that I'm adding in the recipes for my use, not relying on the database. In other words, I'm adding the ingredients in one-by-one, and coming up with total calorie numbers that are different from what the original website (where I got the recipe) has listed for calories. So it sounds like the issue isn't really the recipe, rather the ingredients database.

ammo7

Blairlarsen wrote: »

So it sounds like the issue isn't really the recipe, rather the ingredients database.

The issue is probably just that ingredients (and portion sizes!) can vary so wildly. The person who inputted the recipe might have used different brands and amounts of ingredients, and so it makes sense that their calorie amounts would be different from yours.

rileysowner

Did anyone actually look at the recipe? I was looking at the Creamy Baked spinach receipe, frankly with 6 ounces of cream cheese and 4 tablespoons of butter, 164, even for 6 servings seems low. Just those ingredients would give a calorie count per serving of around 166 calories for 6 servings, and that doesn't include anything else listed. The number from MFP sounds closer to what it should be.

Blairlarsen

Thanks everyone, for your help. I'll try to err on the MFP side more than on the recipe website.