Help understanding calories

tarakizer
tarakizer Posts: 52
in Food and Nutrition
I am confused by how many calories are in this sweet potato that I bought. It's a Nature's Pride microwaveable sweet potato. Well it's actually a yam, but I'll ignore that.

On the sticker, it says "NET WT. MIN. 8 OZ.".

Underneath the sticker is the nutrition info.

Serving Size: 1 medium/5" long & 2" diameter sweet potato (130g)
Servings per Container: 1
Calories: 130

I have a food scale, and this potato is about 350 grams (uncooked, not sure how much it'll weight when I cook it). MFP says a 350 gram sweet potato is 315 calories. Using the nutrition info from the potato and multiplying it out puts it at 350 calories. I don't care which one is right as 315 and 350 are close enough for me.

BUT!

When I scanned the bar code, MFP says 130 calories and the serving size is 1 potato. Now I know that there is a ton of user error with these bar codes, but there are other entries like this for this item. And the darn label for this item says there's only 1 for "Servings per Container". Shouldn't the serving size be 130 grams on MFP? Shouldn't the "Servings per Container" on the label say "Varies" or similar?

I know this isn't difficult, but I wanted to make sure I am doing this right. The food label and the MFP entries are throwing me off.

Thank you!

Replies

  • susanp57
    susanp57 Posts: 409 Member
    according to nutritiondata 200g of a sweet potato, cooked, is 180 calories.

    Btw, it is a sweet potato, true yams are not grown in temperate climates.
  • tarakizer
    tarakizer Posts: 52
    I wish they'd fix the food label on this.

    I'll see how much it weighs when I cook it and will use the non-user submitted MFP's nutrition info for a sweet potato.
  • hecham
    hecham Posts: 118 Member
    I have seen calorie calculators that say 25 calories for every ounce of sweet potato. So 4 oz would be 100 cals. Its smaller than you think, so I'd weigh it in ounces to be sure.
  • susanp57
    susanp57 Posts: 409 Member
    you can edit it yourself.
  • tarakizer
    tarakizer Posts: 52
    I have seen calorie calculators that say 25 calories for every ounce of sweet potato. So 4 oz would be 100 cals. Its smaller than you think, so I'd weigh it in ounces to be sure.

    I did weight it. It's about 350 grams/12.5 ounces.
  • tarakizer
    tarakizer Posts: 52
    you can edit it yourself.

    I'm talking about the food label on the potato itself, not what's in the MFP database.
  • jrmartinezb
    jrmartinezb Posts: 147 Member
    It seems like the servings per cointainer info on the label is wrong. I've seen this countless times with prepackaged produce. The 130cals for 130grs seems about right. The package just hast 2.5 servings per container, not 1 as it says.

    With fruits and veggies I just ignore the label and use what the MFP database says. I just try to use the "official" entries. There is a lot of variation for the calories in produce, water content, how ripe the thing is, season, etc. In my experience there is no need to worry to much about it.
  • tarakizer
    tarakizer Posts: 52
    It seems like the servings per cointainer info on the label is wrong. I've seen this countless times with prepackaged produce. The 130cals for 130grs seems about right. The package just hast 2.5 servings per container, not 1 as it says.

    With fruits and veggies I just ignore the label and use what the MFP database says. I just try to use the "official" entries. There is a lot of variation for the calories in produce, water content, how ripe the thing is, season, etc. In my experience there is no need to worry to much about it.

    Thank you! I'll start ignoring prepackaged produce labels too then. I too try to use the official entries as those others can be hilarious.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    The label/ barcode is accurate by weight, you just happen to have gotten a big potato. Scan it twice. Good thing you weighed it. And yes, unless otherwise indicated, food weights are always raw.

    The other day I we had sausages which were 2 oz per serving. The sausages themselves were 3 oz. each.
  • tarakizer
    tarakizer Posts: 52
    The label/ barcode is accurate by weight, you just happen to have gotten a big potato. Scan it twice. Good thing you weighed it. And yes, unless otherwise indicated, food weights are always raw.

    The other day I we had sausages which were 2 oz per serving. The sausages themselves were 3 oz. each.

    Thank you. The "Servings per Container" needs to be changed to reflect that there can be a huge variation, simply stating "Varies" would make me happy, lol. Mine is almost 3 times bigger!

    I'm going to savor this sweet potato at lunch. I love sweet potatoes!

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