False Nutrition Information

cindy4mica

This topic has probably been broached many times before, but I've never seen it so I apologize if I'm being redundant. Why is it that some MFP nutrition information varies from entry to entry? I'm sitting here looking directly at the package and it reads, "0 calories", yet when I pull the item up to add to my diary, it reads "3 calories" (yes, I'm *****ing about three calories, but I've seen it several times before when the amount was much higher). Are members just entering the numbers incorrectly, or are there errors on the labels?? Hmmmm.....This could possibly be cheating me out of an ice cream sandwich every night! :noway:

cmriverside

Yes, incorrect entries are frequent. Also, food portions change, and different parts of the world have different values.

Have you noticed that packages are getting smaller? Some ingredients change over time, nutrition values change. It could be any number of things.

dls06

If you come across one just correct it.
at the top of the food it says nutrition info click on it and edit.

wftiger

Nutrition values change over time. Also, if an item is available in US and Canada they may be different as well.

Some people that enter sometimes only put in the items they watch so others might not be correct. I notice this mostly on carbs and sodium.

ansonrinesmith

Anything with a * by it is user entered and subject to errors or being incomplete.

KimbersNewLife

Anything with a * by it is user entered and subject to errors or being incomplete.

Thanks so much this is great to know, I had no idea!! Thank you thank you thank you. This was a huge concern I had as well.

carlyholly

I ALWAYS double check the information on here with the nutritional information on the package. You can never be too sure when you want to be accurate!

smlamb33

The reason is, that there are very few 0 calorie foods. When in fact, most foods have 1-4 calories and are labeled as 0 calorie foods because of the FDA guidelines. According to FDA guidelines, if a food has 4 calories or less per serving, they can label the food as a 0 calorie food. Believe it or not, Splenda packets have 4 calories each, a 12 oz. can of Diet Mt. Dew has 10 calories per serving and even Pam spray has calories! If you eat these items and don't count the calories they can secretly add up and then you end up over eating your calories. I count every calorie that I eat. I don't want to secretly sabotage myself. So beware of labels that say 0 calories! They are evil!
Don't get me wrong, these low calorie substitutes are way better for you than the full calories counterparts but they do in fact still have calories. The only sweetener that doesn't have calories, is Truvia/Stevia. Hope this helps!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/askhg/show/2070

tigersword

The reason is, that there are very few 0 calorie foods. When in fact, most foods have 1-4 calories and are labeled as 0 calorie foods because of the FDA guidelines. According to FDA guidelines, if a food has 4 calories or less per serving, they can label the food as a 0 calorie food. Believe it or not, Splenda packets have 4 calories each, a 12 oz. can of Diet Mt. Dew has 10 calories per serving and even Pam spray has calories! If you eat these items and don't count the calories they can secretly add up and then you end up over eating your calories. I count every calorie that I eat. I don't want to secretly sabotage myself. So beware of labels that say 0 calories! They are evil!
Don't get me wrong, these low calorie substitutes are way better for you than the full calories counterparts but they do in fact still have calories. The only sweetener that doesn't have calories, is Truvia/Stevia. Hope this helps!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/askhg/show/2070

If the limit is 4 calories or less, then how can a serving of Diet Mt Dew be 10 calories a serving and still be labelled as 0? Something tells me your information is incorrect on calorie counts (the rounding regulation is correct.)

Pandorian

it would work for the can of Mt Dew if the serving size is 1 cup (250mL) while the can is 355mL potentially. More games they play with labels like listing sugar, dextrose, fructose.... multiple listings of nothing but sugar in different forms so that by being in different ratios they can "secretly" by order of use move "sugar" further down the ingredient list even though it's almost nothing but sugar.

RumOne

in US the FDA considers anything under 4 calories a Dietetic Zero.

jenbooks

I tend to accept items that have the most confirmations, but I spot check those every once in a while. When I check, I confirm if it's right. You can also edit if it's wrong.

Most of my stuff is member entered because I'm trying out Nutrisystem for a while. Apparently, they reformulate every once in a while (like everybody else, of course) and I've had to adjust a bunch of them.

Right now in my journey, I'm not fussing over 50-100 calories one way or another. I'm sure it'll matter more later!

supershiny

I posted about this a loooong time ago, I had a similar problem with vitamin water zero. The label and mfp said it had zero calories and three carbs (for a 12 oz serving) and 0 calories and 5 carbs for the whole bottle. Unfortunately, this means that I was drinking 50 calories/bottle and didn't notice until after I had a few that day. Dammit FDA!!

Lesson: you can't trust the labels that say 0 calories unless it is pure, unflavored water

Shaigirl79

I ALWAYS double check the information on here with the nutritional information on the package. You can never be too sure when you want to be accurate!

Ditto. I'm pretty serious about losing weight. And I got a lot of it to lose! So I always double check the nutritional info before entering into my food diary. I've seen A LOT of inconsistencies compared to what my boxes say. If it's wrong, I take a picture of the label with my phone and edit it the next time I'm near my computer!

tigersword

5 grams of carbs would be 20 calories, where are the other 30 coming from? Also, 3 grams of carbs is 12 calories, so there's definitely something off with the label, as 12 is more than 5.

MariaAlbinaxoxo

That happened to me with pickles! It said 0 calories for one pickle spear and MFP says 5 calories. I was so mad haha

tigersword

it would work for the can of Mt Dew if the serving size is 1 cup (250mL) while the can is 355mL potentially. More games they play with labels like listing sugar, dextrose, fructose.... multiple listings of nothing but sugar in different forms so that by being in different ratios they can "secretly" by order of use move "sugar" further down the ingredient list even though it's almost nothing but sugar.

In the US, a serving size is 1 12 oz can. Even the liter bottles are using 12 oz servings now, to avoid confusion. So a can would have to have at most 4 calories, in order to be labelled as zero.

cindy4mica

If you come across one just correct it.
at the top of the food it says nutrition info click on it and edit.

Didn't know you could do that - good to know. Thanks!