Serving size?

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bac219
bac219 Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Are serving sizes on food labels for cooked or uncooked?

Example: If it says 2oz of pasta is that BEFORE its cooked? because 2oz of pasta AFTER its cooked is very, very small.

Ground beef label says 4oz but again, same question.

Yesterday I had a frozen lightly breaded chicken cutlet for dinner as I was on the run today and needed something quick to eat. Labels says serving size is 4oz. But is that before or after its baked?

Replies

  • chocorunner122
    chocorunner122 Posts: 11
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    Food is always weighed BEFORE it is cooked. So always weight your food before you cook it because it shrinks with heat.
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
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    Meat would say the servings RAW or COOKED, though meat/poultry is usually raw.

    Things like oatmeal, rice, pasta, etc. those are measured DRY.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    Usually it will say 'uncooked' or 'as sold' or something similar. The pasta I buy says as sold and also says how much 1 serving (75g) weighs when cooked.

    If it doesn't say you can probably assume it's uncooked. It wouldn't make much sense to weigh it afterwards, you'd have to throw away any food you've cooked that goes over how much you're meant to eat... or cook more if it wasn't enough.
  • bac219
    bac219 Posts: 16 Member
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    Some labels specify or give both cooked and uncooked portions but I have come across a lot that haven't.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
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    Food is always weighed BEFORE it is cooked. So always weight your food before you cook it because it shrinks with heat.

    Unless you weigh it AFTER you cook it.

    Or you don't weight it at all.

    You are factually incorrect.
  • bac219
    bac219 Posts: 16 Member
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    hhhmmmm...makes me rethink my logging up to now. I have lost almost 5lbs in 3 weeks BUT now I am thinking I have been eating too much because I was going mostly with COOKED measurements.
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
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    In the food database just make sure you're looking correctly.

    If you have 4oz of chicken breast RAW, search for 'raw'.

    If you plan to cook it, THEN weigh it, find the COOKED listing.

    I use the USDA values for COOKED chicken because I never just make 1 piece at a time. I cook an entire package and then pull all the chicken apart and put it all into a storage container for the week.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
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    Food is always weighed BEFORE it is cooked. So always weight your food before you cook it because it shrinks with heat.

    If that is true....how do you measure or weigh soup ? I have personally never weighed it before cooking and know no one who does.
    And as far as shrinking with heat is concerned, I wonder what that has to do with weight ? I am honestly confused.....
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Food is always weighed BEFORE it is cooked. So always weight your food before you cook it because it shrinks with heat.

    If that is true....how do you measure or weigh soup ? I have personally never weighed it before cooking and know no one who does.
    And as far as shrinking with heat is concerned, I wonder what that has to do with weight ? I am honestly confused.....

    Depends on the soup. The canned stuff you need to mix water with, it's probably after?

    And for meat, they lose fat/liquid when cooked, that's where the difference in weight comes from.
  • bac219
    bac219 Posts: 16 Member
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    I am confused too. I am really determined to measure what I eat correctly. Sometimes it is very easy because the label is very specific...or its just a no-brainer...like fruit is easy as it is what it is so I just weigh it. Same with cereal ( I weigh out the cup portion). But meat (and veggies) is where I am most confused regarding if its before or after
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
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    Are serving sizes on food labels for cooked or uncooked?

    Example: If it says 2oz of pasta is that BEFORE its cooked? because 2oz of pasta AFTER its cooked is very, very small.

    Ground beef label says 4oz but again, same question.

    Yesterday I had a frozen lightly breaded chicken cutlet for dinner as I was on the run today and needed something quick to eat. Labels says serving size is 4oz. But is that before or after its baked?
    Depends what it is, if it shrinks at all, I weigh it before and after, but some things (chicken breast, shrimp) are pretty much the same, btw, take the tails off the shrimp BEFORE you weigh them.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I am confused too. I am really determined to measure what I eat correctly. Sometimes it is very easy because the label is very specific...or its just a no-brainer...like fruit is easy as it is what it is so I just weigh it. Same with cereal ( I weigh out the cup portion). But meat (and veggies) is where I am most confused regarding if its before or after

    Veggies should have two different entries, like meat... cooked and raw.

    Frozen veggies suck because they always have some ice in them and you end up counting that... but that's where I guesswork a lot anyway because I have to weigh them cooked most of the time.
    btw, take the tails off the shrimp BEFORE you weigh them

    I'm so sick of shrimp tails. Seriously. It's a real pain when adding frozen shrimp in a dish.

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