has anyone found any food labels that are blatently wrong?

slickmickey
slickmickey Posts: 113 Member
in Food and Nutrition
so my batteries on my scale at work died and the local target AND walmart were out (it has 2 round flat batteries... annoying!)

so i had to order them from amazon. in the mean time, i was relying on the packaging being truthful. i picked up a pack of cubed colby jack. it says that 7 cubes are a serving (28g). so thats what i had been following. i have had a cute little picnic lunch, cheese, crackers, apples, grapes, sometimes a mini croissant.

batteries came in. 3.5 cubes was 35g. so all week i've been having more than TWICE the calories.

i already have a hard time right now with my calories and to think even when i've been trying i've been completely wrong. ARGH.

any anyone else come across packaging that isnt even close to right?

Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Rarely does the serving size on the package i.e 7 cubes, 1 piece, 3 pieces, etc = the grams on the label.
  • slickmickey
    slickmickey Posts: 113 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Rarely does the serving size on the package i.e 7 cubes, 1 piece, 3 pieces, etc = the grams on the label.

    are you serious?! how can they get away with stuff like that? cheerios are pretty close at least, i have checked that lol
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Rarely does the serving size on the package i.e 7 cubes, 1 piece, 3 pieces, etc = the grams on the label.

    Yep. I've almost never had something match what the label said. I always measure the grams!
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    I find some loaves of bread are really off but I'm ok with it. Now you know!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited November 2016
    Yeah I once bought a package of bacon where they said that 3 slices pan fried (12g) were 80 calories or something. Two of my pan fried slices (crispy) were 14g...

    Graze flapjacks are always off by 60 calories or something when you weigh them.

    And there was that bag of shrimp from Walmart that said that 3oz is 45g. I wish.

    Some fresh gnocchi too, more recently... 90 calories for a serving of 56g or something. I think not (when you looked online it was like 200).

    Some waffles I used to love were supposedly 2 servings of 140 calories each, which is already sneaky, but when you weighed the thing it was like 340 calories per waffle.

    That's why I weigh stuff and tend to compare nutrition information online first.
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  • JinjoJoey
    JinjoJoey Posts: 106 Member
    99% of the time, they give you more than what the label says. They do this to avoid getting into trouble for shorting you. There have been a few companies who have had class action lawsuits brought against them for shorting consumers from what it says on the package, so they simply give you more to make sure you a getting what you pay for.

    I used to love protein bars because it was something quick and easy to grab on my way out the door, until one day, I decided to start weighing them. Yeah, that 60 gram protein bar I was eating was actually, typically, anywhere from 70-75 grams, which meant instead of 200 calories per bar, it was more like 240 per bar. Now I have to make sure I weigh every one of them.
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  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
    slickmickey wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Rarely does the serving size on the package i.e 7 cubes, 1 piece, 3 pieces, etc = the grams on the label.

    are you serious?! how can they get away with stuff like that? cheerios are pretty close at least, i have checked that lol[/quote

    It's my understanding the FDA allows them to be off by about 20%. So, they are rarely on the target. I can get mushrooms that say they weight 227 grams, but they are actually 250 grams.
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    Wolf Brand Chili has a label that while not blatantly wrong is blatantly deceptive. They have a serving size listing of 254 grams and say there are "about 2" servings, but what they're really are is 1.59 servings. This actually is good news for us calorie counters but bad news for people who aren't getting as much chili as they were seemingly promised.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    There's a 20% margin of error even of the weighed calories. So, there's that too. Nothing is really set in stone and perfectly accurate.

    If I'm out and about and it says 20 pieces is a serving, i eat 20 pieces. This isn't life and death. It's just food.

    I just try to be as accurate as I can without being a weirdo about it.

    raw
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    This happens A LOT! I had a slice on Entenmann's pound cake. The serving size stated is 78 g and 280 calories. I weighed the slice one day just to see if it really was 78 g and it was more like 90 g. These little differences may not seem like much, but they can add up if you frequently pack these types of things to last for a day at work or running errands. I don't trust the packages anymore.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    leejoyce31 wrote: »

    It's my understanding the FDA allows them to be off by about 20%. So, they are rarely on the target. I can get mushrooms that say they weight 227 grams, but they are actually 250 grams.

    It can be 20% off the label for the serving size specified. Then there's the weight difference.

    It's not a huge deal but it explains why sometimes people who eat a lot of packaged food can't seem to lose weight - they're eating more than they think.

    Down the line it's not exact science anyway, but when you consider that it just takes 100 extra calories a day to gain 10 lbs a year... it just takes 2 seconds to weigh.
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
    I bought this watermelon vinaigrette to try because the calories seemed reasonable - 2 TBSP for 40 calories. However, when I go to enter it into my diary MFP had the serving as 100 calories. So, I did a little research and found the company online. Sure enough, it was 100 calories a serving! Now I dilute the vinaigrette with a little water when I have a craving for it. I had to take a picture of the label so I could email the company as one of their customer service people didn't quite believe my story.
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    leejoyce31 wrote: »

    It's my understanding the FDA allows them to be off by about 20%. So, they are rarely on the target. I can get mushrooms that say they weight 227 grams, but they are actually 250 grams.

    It can be 20% off the label for the serving size specified. Then there's the weight difference.

    It's not a huge deal but it explains why sometimes people who eat a lot of packaged food can't seem to lose weight - they're eating more than they think.

    Down the line it's not exact science anyway, but when you consider that it just takes 100 extra calories a day to gain 10 lbs a year... it just takes 2 seconds to weigh.

    True, I think it's 20% for everything. That was just my example regarding weight. I also agree it's not an exact science.

    I don't really worry too much about it. I don't weigh frozen dinners. I just know that they could be off by 20% with serving size and nutritional information. I'm a bit underweight so it doesn't really matter much.

    However, I think if someone is trying to lose that last few pounds with a small deficit, perhaps it matters a bit more.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    leejoyce31 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    leejoyce31 wrote: »

    It's my understanding the FDA allows them to be off by about 20%. So, they are rarely on the target. I can get mushrooms that say they weight 227 grams, but they are actually 250 grams.

    It can be 20% off the label for the serving size specified. Then there's the weight difference.

    It's not a huge deal but it explains why sometimes people who eat a lot of packaged food can't seem to lose weight - they're eating more than they think.

    Down the line it's not exact science anyway, but when you consider that it just takes 100 extra calories a day to gain 10 lbs a year... it just takes 2 seconds to weigh.

    True, I think it's 20% for everything. That was just my example regarding weight. I also agree it's not an exact science.

    I don't really worry too much about it. I don't weigh frozen dinners. I just know that they could be off by 20% with serving size and nutritional information. I'm a bit underweight so it doesn't really matter much.

    However, I think if someone is trying to lose that last few pounds with a small deficit, perhaps it matters a bit more.

    I wouldn't even bother with frozen dinners or things that have more than one type of food in them anyway, as you can't tell what the difference is in (meat, veggies, pasta?).
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Lenny and Larry cookies... They're suppose to weigh 112g, but they normally range from 116-135g
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    annette_15 wrote: »
    Lenny and Larry cookies... They're suppose to weigh 112g, but they normally range from 116-135g
    I actually got one that weighed 110. Mine are usually closer to 120-128.

    Still, those birthday cake cookies are worth it man.

  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    CooCooPuff wrote: »
    annette_15 wrote: »
    Lenny and Larry cookies... They're suppose to weigh 112g, but they normally range from 116-135g
    I actually got one that weighed 110. Mine are usually closer to 120-128.

    Still, those birthday cake cookies are worth it man.

    Lol yeah I think I've probably eaten 100 cookies and maybe 2 of them were less than 112g. Still so worth it haha.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,787 Member
    I'm so paranoid about this, but I've never had it actually happen -- packaged foods I weigh and compare to the label consistently either average out correctly or are a bit less than the label says. For instance, my English muffins are meant to be 57g/each; in the package there are a few that weigh 58-60g and a few that weigh 53-57g, so I'm comfortable knowing the difference will average out over the week. My deli turkey is meant to be 56g per four slices; I've found that four slices will weigh 50-53g nine times out of ten. I have a couple dozen more examples but this is a pretty boring post I'm writing already, so...

    One day my luck will run out. I just know it. I keep weighing packaged items just to assure myself it hasn't happened yet.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    I always expect the actual weight to not necessarily be that which the label lists. As was already mentioned, the United States legally allows a 20% disparity on nutrition labels. That's why you'll see many many people here insisting on weighing everything. Including "packaged" foods. Never hurts to take a few seconds to double check when you don't have much wiggle room on you caloric deficit.

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