Does MFP keep a database of commonly eaten restaurant and grocery store food brands?

henjanelli
henjanelli Posts: 15 Member
edited November 17 in Getting Started
I ate at Applebees tonight and expected that when I entered the brand as "Applebees" in MFP's food tracking feature that it would pull up items from their menu - along with nutritional info to help me figure out what I should order. But MFP doesn't seems to have Applebees as a brand in their database. I had to Google "Applebees nutritional info) and manually add the relevant numbers into my MFP. Then when I wanted to eat an apple, I typed in Apple to try to get MFP recognize the nutritional metrics of apples for me to input into the MFP food tracker but no luck; the app acted as if it had never heard of an apple until after I entered the apple's metrics (calories, protein, carbs, etc) which I had to track down using Google ("apple nutritional value, etc). So what's the deal with this? Isn't MCP supposed to have a database of common American foods, including apples so that we, the users aren't stuck tracking down nutritional info and entering it into our MFP app - food items that it seems like the app should already have in it's core function? Let me know if this is a frustration for you and whether there's a workaround for commonly used food items to be recognized in the system after they may have only shown up once or twice in info that the MFP community. I hope this makes good sense.

Replies

  • henjanelli
    henjanelli Posts: 15 Member
    Excuse my typos in that last comment. Hope I still made some kind of sense.

    - Katie
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    There are a lot of foods from Applebee's in the Food Database, and there are a lot of food items for apple.

    Are you using the mobile app or web? If you are using the mobile app, make sure you tap the search icon (magnifying glass - it may be on your keypad if you use iOS) to initiate the search.

  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    While MFP stores the database, a lot of the entries are user entered. If you don't see something you can always go on the Applebees website where you found the information and add it into MFP.
    I went into Food > Database and searched "Applebee" (no 'S' intentionally) and there were many entries listed.
  • henjanelli
    henjanelli Posts: 15 Member
    Thanks! I'll try that.
  • henjanelli
    henjanelli Posts: 15 Member
    Okay, the ultimate pest is back ;-)

    I can't figure out how to find "Food" then "database. Can you point me in the right direction? I really appreciate your help. I'm not only new to MFP but to dieting and losing weight altogether. All guidance appreciated.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    The vast majority of the database is entered by fellow users. If an item from Applebees isn't in the database, then nobody has created it. As for the apple, if you type "apple raw with skin" it should give you an appropriate entry.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    laurelavenue wrote: »
    Okay, the ultimate pest is back ;-)

    I can't figure out how to find "Food" then "database. Can you point me in the right direction? I really appreciate your help. I'm not only new to MFP but to dieting and losing weight altogether. All guidance appreciated.

    Are you using one of the mobile apps (iOS or Android) or the web version?

    ​There are many articles that you can search for answers to Frequently Asked Questions on the MFP Help/FAQ pages.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    @laurelavenue I don't know anything about Applebee's but I just typed it in to MFP and a very long list of items came up.

    Also, when I eat apples I never have to create my own item. There's a good variety of types and sizes to choose from on the site already.

    How are you doing this? You need to click on the Food tab, scroll down to Dinner or any other meal, click Add Food. Then under "Search our food database by name" type the name or part of a name of food and click Search. Scroll through the pop up list of suggestions and select the one that seems nearest to what you need.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    edited March 2017
    w72xl3yjfkqr.jpg
    This is how the page with my food diary looks to me ... I use a desk top computer. It will look different if you are using a smartphone or a pad ... go to the help topics as suggested by others.


  • henjanelli
    henjanelli Posts: 15 Member
    (Sheepishly) I can't find what you're calling the "Food" tab. Will keep looking...
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    laurelavenue wrote: »
    (Sheepishly) I can't find what you're calling the "Food" tab. Will keep looking...

    f21arjq96awy.png
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    laurelavenue wrote: »
    (Sheepishly) I can't find what you're calling the "Food" tab. Will keep looking...

    24l6gsfeynsn.png
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    laurelavenue wrote: »
    (Sheepishly) I can't find what you're calling the "Food" tab. Will keep looking...

    vkwgrrqmngza.png
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
    @laurelavenue I also suggest some good Reads For You.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    @laurelavenue were you able to find what you needed? If not, then answering the question above about how you're accessing the site might help (logging in from a computer vs using an app on your phone).
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