Recipes and Nutritional Info

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HappyStack
HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Preface: I tend to flick through recipe books and like to try something new each week. I try to pick out meals that will fit into my diet using the nutritional info given for each recipe. Even though I know I won't be using the exact same produce, and therefore won't have the exact same nutritional info, I expect it to be fairly accurate.
In one particular recipe for stuffed peppers (stuffed with bulgur wheat, apple and feta cheese) the NI in the book lists 165Kcal, 5g fat, 54g protein (!!!) and 21g carbs - per serving.
After inputting all the ingredients into the recipe section, my values amounted to 266 calories, 12g fat, 11g protein (!!!) and 30g carbs - per serving.

Question: How on earth could there be such a giant discrepancy between the MFP values and the values given in the book? I realise that the cooking process alters the nutrients in foodstuffs somewhat, but a 43g difference in protein and over double the fat is less of a slight alteration and more of a chasm.

Replies

  • BCSMama
    BCSMama Posts: 348
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    That is interesting. Are you sure you're getting the number of servings right? If so, maybe it's the brand of feta cheese? Perhaps the recipe uses a lower fat, lower protein brand than you are using?
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
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    That is interesting. Are you sure you're getting the number of servings right? If so, maybe it's the brand of feta cheese? Perhaps the recipe uses a lower fat, lower protein brand than you are using?

    Well, the recipe book doesn't give a brand... it just states 150g of crumbly feta cheese. I picked the crumbly feta cheese from my local shop with the best values, i.e lowest in fat, highest in protein (carbs are negligible), so in my mind that should work to the recipe considering the NI given.
  • jcpmoore
    jcpmoore Posts: 796 Member
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    Some ingredient somewhere in that recipe was mis-calculated. Whether by you or by them I can't say. It could be a matter of how they measure vs how you do. Or not. It could simply be a major typo. Either way, I'd write to the author of the recipe and ask about it. I've done this before and usually get answers.
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
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    Some ingredient somewhere in that recipe was mis-calculated. Whether by you or by them I can't say. It could be a matter of how they measure vs how you do. Or not. It could simply be a major typo. Either way, I'd write to the author of the recipe and ask about it. I've done this before and usually get answers.

    The only substitution I made was between the colour of the peppers, weighing everything on the scales. I thought myself that it was a misprint or a miscalculation, but I've since put in a few more recipes from the book and noted a wide variance in the values given in the book and those given by MFP. Either off by a fair margin or pretty close. I haven't noticed a pattern.

    I spent a lot of time checking the NI provided for each ingredient on MFP, so I'm leaning towards a miscalculation/misprint on their part. I've tried writing to the author via her website, but it seems like it isn't updated regularly. Shame. I thought 54g protein was exceptionally high for cheese, anyway :tongue:

    Thank you.

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