Nutrition values are incorrect for many items - some thoughts

jsmartware

Hey all, just wanted to say it's been great to be able to log my food consumption every day. I've found this app to be very helpful, especially as I've lost some weight.

Having said this, I just wonder if the community feels good about the nutritional data quality in the database. I've found that when I scan UPC codes, some of the items mentioned are not only inaccurate with the items Description, but also the nutritional values! I guess I'll try my best to update these as I find them. I would encourage everyone to take some time to do this so that we all know what nutrients we're really getting.

I'm wondering if there's not a site that My Fitness Pal can use for a source of accurate nutritional items, based on UPC code. Someone should have this data, right? I mean, if we could just scan the UPC code, and rely on the nutrition information, that would be really great! Seems like the devs @ myfitness could find a way to scrub the data clean, to make it more valuable too.

Just some thoughts! Have a great day!

puffbrat

This is a very well known problem that MFP is not going to address. Most of the entries in the database are user entered. As you clearly know, there is an option to correct entries. Also keep in mind that some entries will be incorrect because the nutritional content for a product, even by the same brand, can change over time and by region. There are many entries that the site sourced from the usda database and you can find those by searching the food + usda.

zeejane03

I love MFP for the forums but yeah... I don't track my food here

nocgirl72

Yes you are right. When I scanned the code o my quest protein shake it came up wrong. I had a really hard time finding the right protein powder since there are so many but I finally found it. The dope that entered it spelled powder wrong. Very annoying.

Also my benefiber on the go packet is wrong but I looked and there is a corrected entry. I wish MFP would delete incorrect entries.

cmriverside

puffbrat wrote: »

This is a very well known problem that MFP is not going to address. Most of the entries in the database are user entered. As you clearly know, there is an option to correct entries. Also keep in mind that some entries will be incorrect because the nutritional content for a product, even by the same brand, can change over time and by region. There are many entries that the site sourced from the usda database and you can find those by searching the food + usda.

Actually just as an FYI, the entries that say "USDA" are not the Admin/MFP-entered ones. If it says "USDA" it's user entered. The Admin ones don't say USDA and have a particular syntax and a portion choice box that has ten to twelve choices of portion sizes, including grams, ounces, ml, mg, pound, kg, pint, quart, TBSP, tsp, liter, cup, *each*, 100g, etc. I know MFP did manage to get grams and ounces into most of them now, but the original sourced entries have a lot more choices. User-entered ones have approximately five or six portion sizes in the drop-down box.

Unless at some point MFP added a second database, which is completely possible. I just make sure I vet every food I put in my diary. Once it gets into my "Recents" it's hard to get rid of it and I'd rather have good entries to choose from in that personalized list.

kshama2001

Unfortunately, the "verified" green check marks in the MFP database are used for both user-created entries and admin-created entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. To find admin entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and paste that into MFP.

For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP. (Unfortunately, we cannot just scan and assume what you get is correct.)

jsmartware

Thanks for the link to that USDA database, and to all for their insights on this!

lemurcat2

When I was logging here, I used USDA entries (I eat mostly whole foods) or else I checked the information on my package. I never scanned, and there is no expectation that scanning will be correct -- it's as accurate as the person who entered it was.

The real USDA entries (which used to be easier to find, but are easy if you have some experience even now) were uploaded by MFP from the USDA.

All that aside, I find it easier to log at Cron and for me that's workable because I eat mostly whole foods. For lots of packaged stuff I think MFP will be better/easier, but check the information!