database entries and differences

littlesewflake
littlesewflake Posts: 15 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am not sure how to use the MFP database when so many of the entries seem to contradict each other. How do you account for the sometimes massive differences in calories/fat/nutrients listed in the database?

Replies

  • mgookin
    mgookin Posts: 92 Member
    I scan my labels for everything that I have. For other things that dont have labels I try to find a USDA entry or I create my own.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    edited January 2019
    For whole foods you can use the USDA database https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

    For other foods, double check entries with the packaging on your food. If you use a scanner, be sure to double check that as it brings up user-created entries that can be erroneous.

    For home cooked foods, create your own recipe in the recipe builder to account for your actual ingredients and portions. There's no way to know what in someone else's homemade foods.

    There's a learning curve but it gets easier the more you do it. Plus, once you log a food, it's in your recent list for future use.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Double check with the packaging label. For whole foods, you can double check against the USDA database. If you're picking generic recipes like "homemade lasagna" or whatever, you'll never know because those are just some random users entries from their recipe and you have no idea what their recipe was. For that kind of thing, you should use the recipe builder...anything else is just a shot in the dark.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,091 Member
    mgookin wrote: »
    I scan my labels for everything that I have. For other things that dont have labels I try to find a USDA entry or I create my own.

    Scanning doesn't magically ensure the entries you get are correct. They are still, for the most part, user entered. You should verify them against the info on the package label.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,091 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    littlesewflake wrote: »
    I am not sure how to use the MFP database when so many of the entries seem to contradict each other. How do you account for the sometimes massive differences in calories/fat/nutrients listed in the database?

    The MFP database is made up of 2 types of entries: 1) the USDA database and 2) user entered.

    The USDA database is accurate for all single food items (apple, rice, flour, celery, etc) so when you want to get the info on your 93% lean ground beef, enter this in search: beef-ground-93% lean-usda. There will be some other measurements as people tweak the entries but the "official" USDA entries are always per 100 grams. Easy peasy: weigh your raw hamburger and if it comes up as 140 grams it is 1.4 servings of 100 grams.

    User entered items are where problems occur. Double check the listing with the label on the package. It may have not been entered correctly OR the recipe changed and the package you bought is newer than the entry.

    I don't scan. I find it brings up too many bad entries. It doesn't take much time to do a quick search and enter. Double checking and replacing when the scan was wrong takes up more time.

    I generally agree on most of this except the part about "official" USDA entries "always being per 100 g." While they pretty much always have that as one of the serving size options, very often it is not the default option, and you'll have to use the drop-down menu to find 100 g. Also, some of the "official" USDA entries have lost the 100 g option, I think during an effort by MFP to add imperial serving size options to entries with metric options and vice versa, so people wouldn't have to convert.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited January 2019
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    littlesewflake wrote: »
    I am not sure how to use the MFP database when so many of the entries seem to contradict each other. How do you account for the sometimes massive differences in calories/fat/nutrients listed in the database?

    The MFP database is made up of 2 types of entries: 1) the USDA database and 2) user entered.

    The USDA database is accurate for all single food items (apple, rice, flour, celery, etc) so when you want to get the info on your 93% lean ground beef, enter this in search: beef-ground-93% lean-usda. There will be some other measurements as people tweak the entries but the "official" USDA entries are always per 100 grams. Easy peasy: weigh your raw hamburger and if it comes up as 140 grams it is 1.4 servings of 100 grams.

    User entered items are where problems occur. Double check the listing with the label on the package. It may have not been entered correctly OR the recipe changed and the package you bought is newer than the entry.

    I don't scan. I find it brings up too many bad entries. It doesn't take much time to do a quick search and enter. Double checking and replacing when the scan was wrong takes up more time.

    I generally agree on most of this except the part about "official" USDA entries "always being per 100 g." While they pretty much always have that as one of the serving size options, very often it is not the default option, and you'll have to use the drop-down menu to find 100 g. Also, some of the "official" USDA entries have lost the 100 g option, I think during an effort by MFP to add imperial serving size options to entries with metric options and vice versa, so people wouldn't have to convert.

    Never mind. .
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Unfortunately, the "verified" green check marks in the MFP database are used for both user-created entries and system entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. To find system entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and plug that into MFP.

    For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP.

    Note: any entry that includes "USDA" in it was a user-entered entry - system entries do not have this. On the rare occasions that I cannot find a system entry for whole foods I will search instead for the number from the USDA database. For example, the system entry for "Egg, whole, raw, fresh" has disappeared from the database and when I need to use it in the recipe builder I will search for the USDA number, 01123, and use that instead.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,413 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Unfortunately, the "verified" green check marks in the MFP database are used for both user-created entries and system entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. To find system entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and plug that into MFP.

    For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP.

    Note: any entry that includes "USDA" in it was a user-entered entry - system entries do not have this. On the rare occasions that I cannot find a system entry for whole foods I will search instead for the number from the USDA database. For example, the system entry for "Egg, whole, raw, fresh" has disappeared from the database and when I need to use it in the recipe builder I will search for the USDA number, 01123, and use that instead.

    Yeah, this. System (Admin) added entries will not say USDA, and I generally look for that long list of choices in the drop down portion sizes in the Nutrition box, and will often if not always find the 100g (it really should be in all of them - I haven't found one that it isn't, but I've been wrong before.) Now, the 100g option has been corrupted in an update and it will sometimes give a HUGELY inflated calorie count. So there is that.

    Best thing is to verify each entry. Once you use it it goes in your Recent or your Frequent list (or both,) so it will be easy to find next time. Most of us use the same foods over and over, so it is a problem that solves itself in time and with regular use.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,413 Member
    For great instructions, see these two threads:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10621050/how-to-use-the-usda-food-database-mfp-food-database-for-accurate-logging/p1

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