Your take on calories posted by restaurants?

cpalumbo89

What do you guys think about the calories posted on menus and such? For example I order the pasta primavera in a tin pan (not bread bowl) and the online nutrition guide shows the whole thing as 540 calories. And I’m looking at all this penne pasta in a cream sauce and I’m just thinking how?? Am I fooling myself here??

cpalumbo89

From Dominoes! Sorry I meant to say

yirara

Where are you eating this meal, and is the one listed in the database from the same place?

cwolfman13

They are allowed some margin for error, but they legally can't be massively off.

VirginiasMom

Be careful of number of servings - I know at PF Changs the nutrition is for usually 1/3 or 1/2 of the serving. For a Dominoes item I would imagine this to be the case since the assumption may be the item is shared.

Cassandraw3

It says 550 cal per 337 grams. I believe by law they are allowed to be up to 20% off (this would mean a calorie range of 440-660). If you want to be more accurate, you could verify with a scale how much you actually received. Based on the macros listed, it adds up to 551 calories. I would think it is fairly accurate.

mmapags

cwolfman13 wrote: »

They are allowed some margin for error, but they legally can't be massively off.

Agreed. Also, as a retired chef, I can tell you that restaurants, particularly chains, try to be as accurate as they can be with portion control. Portion control = cost control and is one the main factors to manage for profitability.

CSARdiver

If concerned I add a fudge factor to restaurants and insert 1.2 in MFP rather than 1 to account for the 20% margin of error.

Veganvibesss

They’re LIES! I ate “healthy” take out bowls everyday, things like rice bowls with veggies and salads and the calories on the menu were complete *kitten*. Once I started cooking them myself and calculating the calories of everything a bowl that claimed to be 600 calories was more like 1000. This being said a rice bowl or salad bowl is nutritious and healthy but the servings they give you are way to big.

Runaroundafieldx2

I find them to be there or there abouts in the UK.

I'd like to believe it's less as my favourite burger meal is 1900 calories

happytree923

I've heard a theory that the calorie counts from massive chain restaurants probably are fairly accurate, because the recipes are strictly followed so the food is consistent at every location. Plus it adds up if chefs at many locations are randomly adding an extra 1/4 cup of sauce to a dish or whatever. Just make sure that you have the correct serving size (nutrition info may be for a partial dish) and if it's a meal with sides make sure you have the calories for everything (don't assume fries are included in the calorie count even if they come with the food automatically).

Editme12

I work in a chain restaurant. I asked my head cook about this once, and he said "I've never met a cook who didn't use more oil than they need to." So now when I order stuff I request no or light oil/ butter etc to be safe, and count it the same. Many things get pre-weighed, like pasta and sauce, but it's still humans making recipes.

I also used to work in a Domino's. The one I worked in, the employees had heavy hands and guesstimated.

Noreenmarie1234

I've worked at various chains and we never measured anything, we just eyeballed, so it is easy to be off. A lot of workers would even add extra cheese/meat/butter/etc hoping to please the customer. (Moes, chipotle, taco bell, corner bakery cafe are some of the places I worked at)

cwolfman13

Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »

I've worked at various chains and we never measured anything, we just eyeballed, so it is easy to be off. A lot of workers would even add extra cheese/meat/butter/etc hoping to please the customer. (Moes, chipotle, taco bell, corner bakery cafe are some of the places I worked at)

I've worked in a couple of kitchens and a pizza joint...not only did we measure, everything was weighed to the gram on digital scales for cost control.

quiksylver296

Cassandraw3 wrote: »

It says 550 cal per 337 grams. I believe by law they are allowed to be up to 20% off (this would mean a calorie range of 440-660). If you want to be more accurate, you could verify with a scale how much you actually received. Based on the macros listed, it adds up to 551 calories. I would think it is fairly accurate.

Seems like an easy way to verify - weigh your pasta.

mmapags

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »

I've worked at various chains and we never measured anything, we just eyeballed, so it is easy to be off. A lot of workers would even add extra cheese/meat/butter/etc hoping to please the customer. (Moes, chipotle, taco bell, corner bakery cafe are some of the places I worked at)

I've worked in a couple of kitchens and a pizza joint...not only did we measure, everything was weighed to the gram on digital scales for cost control.

I agree. Every restaurant kitchen that I worked in did this and I also consulted/ sold a technology to chains like Outback, Chili's, Fridays etc. They all had development kitchens where the recipes were formulated and the specs were passed down to the store level. If portion control is not being managed, that reflects on the management of that location. Every kitchen I worked in managed this and every kitchen I ran did also.

There could well be an issue of incorrect calorie estimates on the portions in some instances. But, based on many years of experience, I just don't buy the widespread over portioning happening.

hesn92

I just trust them. I'm sure they're close enough. (Side note, I don't really eat out too often, maybe once a week) Also I find that sometimes I order meals that have garnishments and random things on the side that I don't eat, so the calories would be off because they include those things. Like i got a plate of nachos and then on the side of the platter it had a smear of sour cream, guacamole, and pico. I only used a little bit of each so the calories I logged was probably overstated.

mewickla

I've worked at Arby's, Pizza Ranch, Subway, Starbucks, Tom Thumb Donuts, and Pop Century Resort (Disney Dining). Things definitely weren't meticulously measured - we'd only pretend to care when a manager was around. I'd probably assume the extra 20%.

Noreenmarie1234

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »

I've worked at various chains and we never measured anything, we just eyeballed, so it is easy to be off. A lot of workers would even add extra cheese/meat/butter/etc hoping to please the customer. (Moes, chipotle, taco bell, corner bakery cafe are some of the places I worked at)

I've worked in a couple of kitchens and a pizza joint...not only did we measure, everything was weighed to the gram on digital scales for cost control.

I am SO glad to hear this because I've always been wary of restaurant calories because of the places I worked at. I am so glad it is not the norm. We WERE "suppose" to be weighing and measuring and everyone did when the managers were around... but once they weren't around no one did. I think it was just the people at the restaurants I was at.

seltzermint555

I assume it's just a rough estimate and although I do log restaurant food "as posted" calorie counts in MFP, I try to limit my restaurant meals anyway - so it's not every single day that I'm going over a bit in calories.

OP, I completely understand your comment on the pasta primavera at Dominos! I have had the exact same thought with that. The last time I ate it, I had 900 calories left for dinner due to exercise and logged that 540 or whatever it is and just left it because I felt like it was around 700-800 probably.

seltzermint555

hesn92 wrote: »

I just trust them. I'm sure they're close enough. (Side note, I don't really eat out too often, maybe once a week) Also I find that sometimes I order meals that have garnishments and random things on the side that I don't eat, so the calories would be off because they include those things. Like i got a plate of nachos and then on the side of the platter it had a smear of sour cream, guacamole, and pico. I only used a little bit of each so the calories I logged was probably overstated.

I agree with this. I am not a low carb dieter but I often leave behind my tortillas or half bun/bread and stuff like that. I wish there was an easy way to *accurately* know how much to subtract from the calorie count for those things. A large slice of wheat bread I eat at home has 60 calories but according to McDonald's their sad little bun on a McDouble is 150-ish calories. So I guess if I eat 1/2 bun, subtract 75 cal...but I'm not sure if that's accurate.

I also hate the way some fast food restaurants list calorie counts for combo meals and it's like a 460-1550 calorie range, I think that would really throw some people off & most of it is assuming you get the large Coca-Cola for your beverage which has crazy calories.

Francl27

Remember it can be 30% off the nutrition info, and it can be heavier than what the package says on top of that.

Let's be real too - there was a video around a couple years ago where they analyzed the calorie content of a lot of things, and some things were actually twice the calories than what the package says. Sure, it's illegal to be that far off, but it doesn't mean that it's not going to happen.

Unless you eat out all the time though (or eat a lot of packaged food), it shouldn't be such an issue. Even if you do, just decrease your goal if you're not losing.

cpalumbo89

Thanks everyone! Made me feel better lol