FIX YOUR DATABASE

Fattyohfat

Hire an intern(s) and start fixing all the misinformation in your database. F'n ridiculous there are 6 different entries for Philadelphia Cream cheese, for example, all with GREEN CHECKS 1 of which is correct and matches the manufacturer's information. For as much as you charge for pro plan this is unacceptable.

AnnPT77

This is an international site. Philadelphia brand cream cheese can have different ingredients in different countries. Even with the same ingredients, different countries have different nutrition labeling regulations.

Variations of these types are simultaneously true, depending on which country the user is in.

Product formulations change over time, and Philadelphia cream cheese is no exception. Further, even within a country, labeling regulations change over time. Typically, when either of those types of changes occur, both the old and new formulations coexist in the marketplace for a period of time.

If someone has used a food with the old formulation or label in their diary, and that non-current entry is deleted from the database, their diary history may be broken, depending on exactly how the database is structured under the covers.

Even if the database structure doesn't have that characteristic, both old and new formulations/labels would be true during the period when both old and new formulations/labels exist in the marketplace (or in home refrigerators). No one is telling MFP when formulations change, other than MFP users making new database entries, which can vary in different countries anyway, as I mentioned.

Is the database messy? Yes. Could it be improved? Probably. Almost certainly.

I think it's not a simple as it appears on the surface. High probability a real solution goes beyond "hire an intern".

Also, MFP has clearly been working on the database entries' accuracy, though that may not be superficially obvious.

Do I work for MFP? No, and never have. A decent chunk of my multi-decade career in another large organization/industry included working on logical data design, physical database design, data quality, data architecture and overall data resource management. I've been an active MFP user steadily since mid 2015.

rileysowner

AnnP basically wrote what I was going to write. As a Canadian who lives near the US border, I am frequently surprised by the nutritional information differences in products that are sold in both countries. Add that this database covers basically the world, and yes, there will be differences in products even from the same company with the same name. Frankly, once you build up a list of frequently used items which you have confirmed match what you have available locally, the inconsistencies in the database are far less of an issue.

claireychn074

Yes - thank you both. I’m in the UK. I don’t want a standardised US database as that will have no resonance at all with UK packaged food.

And how exactly is an “intern” supposed to gain access to every single food stuff out there??

Alatariel75

claireychn074 wrote: »

Yes - thank you both. I’m in the UK. I don’t want a standardised US database as that will have no resonance at all with UK packaged food.

And how exactly is an “intern” supposed to gain access to every single food stuff out there??

Echoing from Australia. The 'same' product can be very different ingredient-wise here.

I just wish MFP would at least address foods that are clearly wrong and reported as such, there's a green ticked particular type of cheese in the database which clearly has the nutritional info for pasta (it literally says "one bowl of pasta" in the servings!) which hasn't been fixed despite reports.

T4rbh

Good responses on why there can be several different legitimate, green-ticked entries for the same thing. But there are still many, many obvious errors in the database, some of them with green ticks. It would be great if there were more frequent checks of data, at least so that the egregious errors could be rectified or deleted.