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MyFitnessPal Community

Varying Nutritional Info?

tajmel

From the database:
2.25 lbs of ground 73/27 beef, drained and rinsed: 1560-2340 kcals, 156-252 g protein
5 oz grilled chicken: 150 - 250 kcals

Listen, I understand that due to varying growing conditions, water content, cooking technique, and processing nutritional values for all fresh foods are an estimates. I really couldn't care less if the values for my vegetables are estimates, as they're low calorie and I'm eating them mostly for micro-nutrients and fiber, but the values for proteins vary pretty widely, and matter much more, as they're calorie dense.

Thus far I've been looking up three likely looking entries that are "confirmed" and picking the central value, but it's starting to irritate me.

How do YOU handle these kinds of discrepancies?

Replies

tajmel

I guess everyone else is completely ok with 1000 kcals of error. Sweet.

alphasigalum

I have noticed the same thing! It's very frustrating but I typically will google it to get more accurate information and go from there

RobynMWilson

I look up cals on Google for things like generic meat and see what's closest. I'm more tracking protein grams rather than calories but I do like some accuracy in my food diary lol

mdj1501

I also scroll thru them all, look for ones with confirmation and try to pick a middle of the road amount. It is frustrating at times. Other times I check on calorie king or google other nutrition sites. I do feel your pain. :ohwell:

soontobesam

Or your post got lost in the thousands of errors that are going up at all times.

There are a lot of different entries in the database but I pick the one that matches the label from whatever food I used. A few times I haven't been able to find one (probably a search error on my end) so I created a food to be added to the database.

ETA - oops I was talking about stuff other than the protein you were referring to. But same thing as others said - I will go to the website of the company and use their data (if available) or poke around and do my best guess.

SuffolkSally

IDK the answer - but I do know that I spend an awful lot of time entering foods into the MFP database, googling. weighing, and reading labels for the correct nutritional info. Very irritating at times.

chlorisaann

I try to go with the brand that I bought when at all poss, and if it is not already in the system, I enter it....

Bradford72

Very frustrating! I try to use the labels whenever possible, but of course a lot of meat products don't have them. I agree with googling and also using the middle ground. Total PITA, but right now it's the best way I know.

NewChristina

Read the original packaging when you can.

sninny

I have this same issue with calorie info for eggs. All the confirmed and official looking entries for eggs, cooked in various styles, have widely varying nutrition info. I guess they assume that if you're scrambling an egg you must be adding butter to the pan, milk to the eggs, and who knows what else to make a 70 calorie egg become over 100 calories. Drives me bonkers.

jzrharv

Well, you might try a relatively unbiased and authoritative citation for some stuff:

Nutritive Value of Foods (USDA Home and Garden Bulletin 72)

I've had my copy 1981 hardcopy forever. But now with this new-fangled intertubes, you can download it yourself...

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/HG72/hg72_2002.pdf

shorty35565

Typically on the back of ur meat packaging it has the Nutritional info. Use that. Look up that specific meat & if u can't find it, put it in the data base. Picking generic stuff isn't acceptable to me for myself unless it's fruit or veggies individually bought. If I ever buy potatoes in a bag and it has the info on there, I use it. When I prepare my eggs, I don't look up scrambled eggs...that's just silly. I put in the name of my egg whites & enter the serving size. That will end up being way more accurate imo

sathor

I have noticed that a lot of the data is for when it is made into patties, and some are 1/3 and some are 1/4, and 2.25# would be about 7 of one and 10 of the other. Entering patties is a pita because of this, but I think that might be the root cause, and easy to miss.

tajmel

My question mostly pertains to foods that DON'T have labels, which is, well, a lot of my food

. Although, on the label issue, there's a lot of discrepancies also. I mean, when I look for my cottage cheese, I enter the brand, milkfat, style, everything, and there are still 20-30 entries, only one of which matches the label. It's ridiculous.

@Sninny, Exactly haha. I had to re-enter my eggs like 10 times to find the correct entry. Of course, now its in my recent foods so its less of a hassle, but... :P

@Bradford, Ah-hah, so other people ARE having to refer to external resources. To google!

@ jzrharv, THANK YOU. That will be very helpful!

Mostly I just wanted to complain a little, so thanks! Haha. It's a Pain... but it's worth it, right?

tajmel

Another diet site I used to use, which shall remain unnamed, lists the basic nutritional info next to the entries to help you pick the correct one the first time. The whole clicking through to another page, searching, and blind clicking thing is a little silly.

tajmel

I have noticed that a lot of the data is for when it is made into patties, and some are 1/3 and some are 1/4, and 2.25# would be about 7 of one and 10 of the other. Entering patties is a pita because of this, but I think that might be the root cause, and easy to miss.

That's a good point, TY

. Had to deal with that on the 4th!

Nikiki

I've noticed the same, baked/grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs for example range from 140-250 for 4oz. I checked on calorieking.com and they say 240 so that's what I use but yeah it annoys the crud out of me!!