MFP food calories count off?

polvo71

I’ve seen several posters mention how the MFP food list and calories are not reliable. Reading this kinda crushed me because the reason this app works for me is that it is so easy to log. I especially love the recipe import function. I cook every night. I do know that I have to review the ingredients very carefully and fix the bugs. But, for vet MFP users, what is wrong with the food items that are in the catalog of food item? Is there things I should watch out for? It seems that the items I’ve been logging in to date have been ok and check out from the nutritional info on labels🤷‍♀️

Lietchi

The problem is that they are user entered.

Sometimes the portion is wrong for example: it says 1gr when the values are for a portion of 100gr, or vice versa.
Sometimes the data is simply wrong.
Sometimes the portion sizes are based on volume or even less reliable measures: one slice, one piece,...
For processed foods: foods can change over time too, changing recipes.

janejellyroll

The errors I typically see are that a user has entered incorrect data for an item (either in calories or macros) or that the entry is too vague to be useful (things like "macaroni and cheese, 1 bowl"). The other issue is that some entries have data that has become corrupted over time (broccoli is an example, I used an entry for years until it switched to being zero calories).

Chef_Barbell

Sometimes users enter calories and no macro info.

puffbrat

The other issue I see is that all the entries in the database for a specific item have a different number of calories than the container says on the label. I assume that is related to manufacturers changing recipes or using different recipes in different regions. It is usually only a matter of 10 calories but sometimes up to 30 calorie difference. It doesn't bother me much and I either just live with that slight difference or create an updated entry, but I think it really bothers a lot of newer members.

Maxxitt

I look at several, non MFP, sources now, for things I am entering the first time, and double check entries when using the "recipe" function as they are often wildly erroneous. It's a pain. If I were starting logging for the first time, I would find another app, frankly. Once you have been logging for a time and exercised due diligence for accurate sources, it's less of a problem because most people have patterns that they stick to in terms of food choices.

cmriverside

polvo71 wrote: »

I’ve seen several posters mention how the MFP food list and calories are not reliable. Reading this kinda crushed me because the reason this app works for me is that it is so easy to log. I especially love the recipe import function. I cook every night. I do know that I have to review the ingredients very carefully and fix the bugs. But, for vet MFP users, what is wrong with the food items that are in the catalog of food item? Is there things I should watch out for? It seems that the items I’ve been logging in to date have been ok and check out from the nutritional info on labels🤷‍♀️

As long as you check it against a reliable source, you'll be fine. So if you're using foods that agree with your labels or agree with (for instance) the USDA database, then don't worry about it.

With that said, packaged foods are going to change their label information from time to time and I know in the US they've recently changed portioning and nutrient reporting, so you do have to watch carefully if/when you buy something new you haven't used before. I use mostly whole foods and a few staple packaged things like spaghetti, yogurt, sausages, etc. I periodically take a peak at the nutrition info but I have all my foods entered in grams, so it's easy to just weigh it and use it and I don't have to make many edits.

cwolfman13

polvo71 wrote: »

I’ve seen several posters mention how the MFP food list and calories are not reliable. Reading this kinda crushed me because the reason this app works for me is that it is so easy to log. I especially love the recipe import function. I cook every night. I do know that I have to review the ingredients very carefully and fix the bugs. But, for vet MFP users, what is wrong with the food items that are in the catalog of food item? Is there things I should watch out for? It seems that the items I’ve been logging in to date have been ok and check out from the nutritional info on labels🤷‍♀️

It's not that they aren't reliable...you just have to make sure you're not selecting an erroneous item from the database by comparing the info to a nutritional label or the USDA site. MFP doesn't create the entries...entries are crowd-sourced and entered by users. That particular user may only care about calories and not macros, so macros get left off...or the entry may have been correct at one point, but the packaging has changed...or the user just completely *kitten* up the whole thing when they entered it.

I never had any issue finding a correct entry for something when I was logging.

kshama2001

janejellyroll wrote: »

The errors I typically see are that a user has entered incorrect data for an item (either in calories or macros) or that the entry is too vague to be useful (things like "macaroni and cheese, 1 bowl"). The other issue is that some entries have data that has become corrupted over time (broccoli is an example, I used an entry for years until it switched to being zero calories).

Yup, "nuts, pecans" are currently 0 calories. That is an entry that MFP had pulled from the USDA database. Those errors are easy for me to spot, so they are still my first choice over user-created entries. When I have to use those, I verify the values I care about against the label.



I used to report errors with admin-created entries, but Support was so difficult to work with that I gave up.

And the fact that they use the Resolved status to indicate that they replied to me rather than that my issue was in fact resolved drove me crazy.

hmaddpear

A common error on UK foods is the sodium figure being the salt weight, as UK foods have the salt value rather than the sodium value, usually. I notice fibre figures being missed of a lot as well.

wilson10102018

MFP entries are a total mess. Most are wrong. All they have to do is drop the entries that are unused just like they do on your "recent" entries and all the bad ones would eventually disappear.