Mac and cheese nutritional fact inaccuracy

youngandaspiringxo
youngandaspiringxo Posts: 74 Member
edited December 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Found my first big inaccuracy in weighing vs measuring cups--from the Mac and cheese box nutritional facts. Says serving size: 2.5 ounces or one cup. Put it in my measuring cup and weighed it on my food scale. 2.5 ounces was more like half a cup! That's so terrifying how inaccurate that was. If I ate a whole cup I would've unknowingly consumed 2x the calories than I thought! So glad I got a food scale.

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Is it cooked or raw though? I admit I'm very confused about how to log mac'n cheese.
  • youngandaspiringxo
    youngandaspiringxo Posts: 74 Member
    Cooked. It can get iffy when you add butter and milk but I didn't add anything extra besides a splash of coconut milk.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    I'm pretty sure the 2.5 oz is uncooked though isn't it?
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    And wouldn't the weight also be affected by how long you cook it/how much water is absorbed?
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
    It would be raw because as you cook it would absorbed more water. Weighing more without more calories.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    All the calculations I've seen for pasta have been raw weight, rather than cooked weight. 2.5oz of cooked noodles is probably sad. :frowning:
  • youngandaspiringxo
    youngandaspiringxo Posts: 74 Member
    Super sad! How the heck are you supposed to properly measure after its all cooked then? Pasta confuses me
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,235 Member
    youngandaspiringxo wrote: »
    Super sad! How the heck are you supposed to properly measure after its all cooked then? Pasta confuses me

    To measure after it's cooked I'd weigh the entire cooked amount and divide that number by the number of servings on the box. So if the total cooked amount weighed 800g and the box says 4 servings that means one serving would weigh 200g. And this would change each time depending on the water absorbed.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Wynterbourne wrote: »
    youngandaspiringxo wrote: »
    Super sad! How the heck are you supposed to properly measure after its all cooked then? Pasta confuses me

    To measure after it's cooked I'd weigh the entire cooked amount and divide that number by the number of servings on the box. So if the total cooked amount weighed 800g and the box says 4 servings that means one serving would weigh 200g. And this would change each time depending on the water absorbed.

    Yeah but then you add the cheese packet too. Not sure they give the calories for that one.

    Hence my 'logging mac'n cheese is a pain' comment above LOL.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    youngandaspiringxo wrote: »
    Found my first big inaccuracy in weighing vs measuring cups--from the Mac and cheese box nutritional facts. Says serving size: 2.5 ounces or one cup. Put it in my measuring cup and weighed it on my food scale. 2.5 ounces was more like half a cup! That's so terrifying how inaccurate that was. If I ate a whole cup I would've unknowingly consumed 2x the calories than I thought! So glad I got a food scale.

    What's the brand and type, or better yet, please provide a link to the label. Like others have said, pasta is usually given in raw weight. I'd like to see if there is nutritional info for "prepared" which would include the cheese packet, and possibly any milk/butter called for in the recipe.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    If there are 3 servings in a package then the serving size information is for 2.5 oz uncooked pasta or 1/3 of the package. Ignore the 1 cupas that refers to how much it makes not the serving size. If you want to weigh more easily after preparation then just weigh it all and divide it by three.
    I divide out boxed mac and cheese into individual servings before cooking by weighing the pasta and cheese powder and dividing them by the number of servings on the box so they are equal amounts. I usually only cook one serving at a time and add the amount of butter and milk for just 1 serving.
    The store brand box I consulted had nutritional information for as packaged and as prepared as well as Kraft mac and cheese has nutritional info on their web site. http://www.kraftmacandcheese.com/products/bluebox/original-cheese
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    To be honest Mac and cheese is the one thing I'm lazy about and just use a cup and measure versus weighing. I don't eat it often enough for it to make that big of a difference in my calories.
  • youngandaspiringxo
    youngandaspiringxo Posts: 74 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    youngandaspiringxo wrote: »
    Found my first big inaccuracy in weighing vs measuring cups--from the Mac and cheese box nutritional facts. Says serving size: 2.5 ounces or one cup. Put it in my measuring cup and weighed it on my food scale. 2.5 ounces was more like half a cup! That's so terrifying how inaccurate that was. If I ate a whole cup I would've unknowingly consumed 2x the calories than I thought! So glad I got a food scale.

    What's the brand and type, or better yet, please provide a link to the label. Like others have said, pasta is usually given in raw weight. I'd like to see if there is nutritional info for "prepared" which would include the cheese packet, and possibly any milk/butter called for in the recipe.

    Simply nature organic shells & white cheddar
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    Yes, it should be weighed raw but it's still a tiny amount! That's why I don't even bother eating pasta much any more
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »
    Yes, it should be weighed raw but it's still a tiny amount! That's why I don't even bother eating pasta much any more

    I find 1.5 serving satisfying and it's still only 300 calories.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »
    Yes, it should be weighed raw but it's still a tiny amount! That's why I don't even bother eating pasta much any more

    I find 1.5 serving satisfying and it's still only 300 calories.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    The weight on the box is usually for the raw ingredients. My boxes say that 2.5 oz (70 g) is a serving size/about 1/3 box/makes about 1 cup prepared. So what I gather from that is 70g is what a serving should weigh before cooked and that once cooked it's about 1 cup.

    What I do:
    • Open box and remove cheese pouch
    • once the water in the pot is boiling, I set the box on the scale and turn it on
    • dump noodles into water and weigh empty box (negative number on the scale is the weight of the noodles in the box)
    • write down weight
    • when it's time to add the cheese, weigh the cheese pouch, dump powdered cheese onto noodles
    • weigh empty pouch (negative number on the scale is the weight of the powdered cheese)
    • add weight of cheese plus weight of noodles together.
    • divide by 70 to determine number of servings in box
    • weigh finished dish and divide by number of servings in box to get a serving size
    I don't make mac & cheese often. If it was something I made a lot, I would probably end up just "trust" that the company put the correct amount of everything in the box and just do the last step I listed above.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,235 Member
    edited May 2016
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Wynterbourne wrote: »
    youngandaspiringxo wrote: »
    Super sad! How the heck are you supposed to properly measure after its all cooked then? Pasta confuses me

    To measure after it's cooked I'd weigh the entire cooked amount and divide that number by the number of servings on the box. So if the total cooked amount weighed 800g and the box says 4 servings that means one serving would weigh 200g. And this would change each time depending on the water absorbed.

    Yeah but then you add the cheese packet too. Not sure they give the calories for that one.

    Hence my 'logging mac'n cheese is a pain' comment above LOL.

    Umm... When I weigh the entire cooked amount. I meant I weigh the 'entire cooked amount' as in the completed boxed dish with all that is supposed to be added in. In other words, ready to go onto my plate. A box of macaroni and cheese gives the calories for 'as packaged' and 'as prepared' I'm referring to 'as prepared'. That's not a pain at all, just takes an extra minute or two to do a couple extra steps.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    youngandaspiringxo wrote: »
    Found my first big inaccuracy in weighing vs measuring cups--from the Mac and cheese box nutritional facts. Says serving size: 2.5 ounces or one cup. Put it in my measuring cup and weighed it on my food scale. 2.5 ounces was more like half a cup! That's so terrifying how inaccurate that was. If I ate a whole cup I would've unknowingly consumed 2x the calories than I thought! So glad I got a food scale.

    2.5 ounces represents the dry weight.

    http://www.fooducate.com/app#!page=product&id=55416AA9-A850-6DFC-4E5B-A0C415BCD642

    Serving Size: 2.5 oz (71g/ about 1/2 box) makes about 1 cup prepared
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
    youngandaspiringxo wrote: »
    Super sad! How the heck are you supposed to properly measure after its all cooked then? Pasta confuses me

    Especially Mac and cheese, most confusing ever. It's like you want 2.5 oz of noodles but then how many grams of the powder cheese? I just go with 1cup = 400 calories for kraft. It's probably a bit high, but I was tired of stressing out over my comfort food. I don't eat it often since I can't be certain of accuracy and I'm working on being more precise.
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