Nutrition value of uncooked vs. cooked pasta

mmminent

I just noticed that Fusilli Durum Wheat Pasta made by Combino (bought in Lidl) has a tiny letters below Nutrition Facts which say:

A portion of 100 g uncooked product corresponds 220 g cooked product.

But Nutrition facts doesn't specify if values are meant for uncooked or for cooked product?

Now, if I make one portion of, let's say 100 g uncooked product, should I enter 100 g to MFP or 220 g?

Lietchi

If it says around 350kcal per 100gr, then the nutritional info is for uncooked. If the value is the lot lower, it concerns cooked.

mmminent

Yes, it says exactly 350 kcal. So, when entering the amount I ate in MFP I should enter 220 g instead of 100 g, right?

Lietchi

If the entry in MFP says 350kcal per 100gr and if you weighed your uncooked pasta when preparing your meal and it was 100gr, then you should enter 100gr in MFP.

mmminent

Aha. Ok. Then I will correct it. It's kinda confusing that they wrote that info below. Thank you again!

kshama2001

Entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database will specify raw or cooked. Here’s an example:

yirara

Uncooked pasta/couscous/rice/quinoa and similar things always come in at around 350 calories per 100gr. When you cook all those things they absorb water and those 100gr are suddenly about 220gr (depending on how well cooked) heavy. But the calories are still the same as the 100gr.

Thus if you weight out 70gr uncooked pasta you find a suitable uncooked database entry and log 0.7

yirara

On that note, if you cook meat it tends to get lighter as there's water, fat, protein within the meat that might be lost due to cooking. Thus a 100gr steak might become quite a bit lighter after cooking. Thus it's always important to chose the right database entry. And preferably chose dry/uncooked because how much weight is gained/lost depends a lot on how long something is cooked

mmminent

Thanks all for insightful replies!

yirara wrote: »

Uncooked pasta/couscous/rice/quinoa and similar things always come in at around 350 calories per 100gr. When you cook all those things they absorb water and those 100gr are suddenly about 220gr (depending on how well cooked) heavy. But the calories are still the same as the 100gr.

Thus if you weight out 70gr uncooked pasta you find a suitable uncooked database entry and log 0.7

Only calories remain the same or all of the nutrition facts remains the same?

For this particular Fusilli Pasta from my question I looked at the nutrition facts on the package. I thought that is the most correct thing to do since it doesn't mention if those nutrition facts are meant for uncooked or cooked pasta. I mean, what's the use of nutrition facts if they put it for uncooked pasta, right? We don't eat it uncooked. I understand that pasta swells after cooking because it soaks water, so 100 g becomes 220 g (but my entry still remains 100 g).

For the meat... Are there any approximates for 100 g of chicken, pork and beef? How lighter they become after cooking?

And same question for octopus that I had the other day. It weighted 1.1 kg frozen but how much is lost after cooking it in pressure cooker? Any approximate values for that? I guess this is very tricky to determine but I would really like to know what are the best ways to approximate the weight of meat(s) after cooking in order to enter close to correct nutrition facts.

kshama2001

Unfortunately, the 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. A green check mark for USER-created entries just means enough people have upvoted the entry - it is not necessarily correct.

To find ADMIN entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and paste that into MFP.

ADMIN entries from the USDA will specify raw or cooked.

Additionally, ADMIN entries from the USDA will have weights as an option BUT there is a glitch whereby sometimes 1g is the option but the values are actually for 100g. This is pretty easy to spot though, as when added the calories are 100x more than is reasonable.

https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Use the “SR Legacy” tab - that's what MFP used to pull in entries.

Note: any MFP entry that includes "USDA" was USER entered.

For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP. (Alas, you cannot just scan with your phone and assume what you get is correct. Note: scanning is mostly only available with Premium these days.)

mmminent

Ok. Many thanks for detailed reply. I had no clue that the world of nutrition is so tricky but in the same time it is satisfying to know what we consume on a daily basis, so we can make smarter decisions regarding our food intake.