Appeal: Please use serving size as grams
Replies
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Using cups is just an illogical way to measure weight. Think of an actual 8 oz drinking cup - you can fill the cup with rocks or feathers. Does a cup full of feathers weigh the same as a cup full of rocks? "But wait, they are both in 8oz cups, they have to weight the same!!! A cup is a cup!!" Sigh...use kgs or ozs.0
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They're not trying to measure weight. They're trying to measure volume. But with no way of controlling for the density (coarsely-chopped vs. finely-chopped vs. packed), it's destined to end in a lot of error.Using cups is just an illogical way to measure weight. Think of an actual 8 oz drinking cup - you can fill the cup with rocks or feathers. Does a cup full of feathers weigh the same as a cup full of rocks? "But wait, they are both in 8oz cups, they have to weight the same!!! A cup is a cup!!" Sigh...use kgs or ozs.0 -
Using cups is just an illogical way to measure weight. Think of an actual 8 oz drinking cup - you can fill the cup with rocks or feathers. Does a cup full of feathers weigh the same as a cup full of rocks? "But wait, they are both in 8oz cups, they have to weight the same!!! A cup is a cup!!" Sigh...use kgs or ozs.
the real isnt that people arent using grams, its that they are using liquid measurements (cups) to weight dry foods. If people learned how to actually measure things with the right tools all of this would be a moot point. You dont measure weight with a mesaure tape and you dont measure electrical resistance with dial calipers. use the right tools to measure and all will be fine.0 -
I'm in the US and I have to disagree with both points. It's extremely rare to find a packaged food that doesn't list it's serving as /g. I'd challenge you to find a food that doesn't list it's serving in grams. As far as weighing prepackaged food, I have to do this. I'm very small and my deficit is not large. There is no room for error. Weights on prepackaged foods are always wrong. Discrepancies can equal up to 100 calories, and suddenly I'm no longer in a deficit. Call it anal if you want, it works. Not weighing my food didn't.I'm not sure where you live but here in the U.S. a lot of food items are not given a gram serving size. Instead it could be in ounces, cups, etc. And I think you're being awfully anal weighing prepackaged foods.
I don't mean to be contrary and i certainly didn't mean to rustle any jimmies... I get your second point but honestly, I'll never pull a granola bar out of it's wrapper and weigh it to see the discrepancy between it's weight and the weight listed on the package.
As for your first point, I may just buy odd things but in my house right now, the following things do not have grams listed: block mild cheddar (listed in oz), international delight coffee creamer (TBSP and mL), Pace black bean dip (TBSP and mL), and Shopper's Fench bread. That's just a quick glance around. For some of these, I will carefully measure out the serving size and weigh it so I don't have to dirty measuring spoons again.0 -
First, in the US, many things do not give a gram serving size. Second, it's pointless to try to calculate calorie count by weight on prepackaged foods. What they give for the serving size and calorie count is an average of a sample of the prepackaged meals. Some may be lighter, some may be heavier and even two prepackaged meals of the same weight may have different calorie counts because one had more veggies and the other had more meat or cheese. Your pizza might have actually been 100 calories more because all that extra weight was in cheese and oil, or it may have been only 20 calories more because all that extra weight was in vegetables. It's even possible that your heavier pizza had the same calories as that of the suggested serving size. Heterogeneous prepackaged foods vary significantly in calorie counts.
First, yes they do.
Second, are you suggesting to not do it then? Or that it is better to not err on the side of caution?
I have run into quite a few things that do not, however perhaps that has changed.
My point was that one shouldn't take so much stock in the calorie counts of prepackaged foods. If you have such a small deficit that you need to worry about an extra 40 calories or so, you should probably try to eat things that you have much more control over as even two prepackaged pizzas of the same size can vary by 40 calories or more.0 -
]It makes me sad because it tells me that person doesn't cook from scratch.
Or, you know, they're not from one of the three countries which do not use the metric system. I find it difficult to believe that French chefs don't cook from scratch. But they probably use grams and mls, not tablespoons and cups.
I am extremely American, but I see the value of weighing food in grams instead of measuring it by volume, which can be wayyy too inaccurate.
I also believe that doing something (measuring with cups and spoons) is better than doing nothing (and getting really fat in typical American fashion).
Just don't ask me to start using Celsius. I prefer our finer gradations on the Fahrenheit scale. If I'm doing science, I can use Kelvins... :laugh:0 -
I agree!!!! I mean, when I see 1 cup or half a cup, it drives me crazy! I don't know how big your cup is!
Thank you for bringing this up!
This.... It's just too much. Really??????
1 cup is equal to 8oz....
Therefore, a half a cup would be equal to 4 oz...
It's not rocket science people. :noway:0 -
Your cultural bias is showing.I agree!!!! I mean, when I see 1 cup or half a cup, it drives me crazy! I don't know how big your cup is!
Thank you for bringing this up!
This.... It's just too much. Really??????
1 cup is equal to 8oz....
Therefore, a half a cup would be equal to 4 oz...
It's not rocket science people. :noway:0 -
WOW....lol....who truly doesn't know what a cup is. I am sorry to laugh but they must not be from the USA, we understand a 1/2 cup or whole cup. I myself don't understand the gram thing, as in the USA we don't measure things quite that way. As another member posted....you can always edit the item for your use and don't worry about the database. I do agree there are alot of ingredients that are wrong but another things that stops you from using the wrong amounts....scan the bar code on the box/package and it will give you what you are asking for in whatever country you are in.
Have a great day everyone!
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You can drive yourself insane measuring food. I just go by what it says on the box, or container. Some foods may be a bit more and some a bit less than it states. I think it all evens out in the end. On some foods if it looks like that cannot possibly be what it says for calories, I'll give myself some extra calories for it and call it good.0
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Sooo... part of the other 95% of the world's population then? And I measure things quite that way, so, really, YMMV. If I have to look at teaspoon and cup measurements in the DB to have weight-based measures for everything included, then by all means, bring it on!WOW....lol....who truly doesn't know what a cup is. I am sorry to laugh but they must not be from the USA, we understand a 1/2 cup or whole cup. I myself don't understand the gram thing, as in the USA we don't measure things quite that way. As another member posted....you can always edit the item for your use and don't worry about the database. I do agree there are alot of ingredients that are wrong but another things that stops you from using the wrong amounts....scan the bar code on the box/package and it will give you what you are asking for in whatever country you are in.
Have a great day everyone!0 -
I have found that more than 1/2 the time, using the bar code scanner results in information different from the package. Sometimes it's not even the same type of food!
^^ This. very odd.0 -
I have found that more than 1/2 the time, using the bar code scanner results in information different from the package. Sometimes it's not even the same type of food!
^^ This. very odd.
Agreed...scanned in Lays perogie chips came up ketchup...0 -
Okay now for the whole cup thing...guess what I am Canadian and I use cups/tsp/tbsps for cooking..
As for how big are they yes 1 cup = 8oz...but guess what some people don't measure with a cup correctly...ever wonder why my cookies are better it's because I am percise...others not so much...they use a liquid measuring cup not a solid measuring cup or they round up or don't quite fill it enough...most people are not percise in measurments...
Now lay off making fun of the person who said how big is your cup.
As for gr/oz thing get a scale that does both...
As for the whole topic create your own food listing.
:grumble: :grumble: :grumble:0 -
Perogie chips?! I've been out of the chip-eating game too long, it would seem! Are you sure it wasn't giving you the data for the grilled cheese and ketchup (barf!) flavored chips that were in the same limited edition?Agreed...scanned in Lays perogie chips came up ketchup...0 -
Yeah, but your population is so so small you don't even count. You're just "America Lite".Okay now for the whole cup thing...guess what I am Canadian and I use cups/tsp/tbsps for cooking..
(Totally kidding, my b-i-l is Canadian!) 0 -
I agree!!!! I mean, when I see 1 cup or half a cup, it drives me crazy! I don't know how big your cup is!
Thank you for bringing this up!
uh....a cup is a unit of measure. one cup = one cup.
Actually the 'cup' size depends on where you live.
-from wiki.In Commonwealth of nations (such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Indian Subcontinent, South Africa, ...), Latin America and Lebanon one cup is commonly defined as 250 millilitres.
United States customary cup is defined as half a U.S. pint.
The cup currently used in the United States for nutrition labeling is defined in United States law as 240 mL
The Japanese cup is currently defined as 200 mL.
So a 'cup' is actually NOT the same everywhere. Since no one knows where the person who entered the food lives it is just common sense to use a weight as opposed to a measurement that varies.
The best solution is not to clog the database with things that are not complete. So when you put in a food just un-check the box to share with everyone else..then no one has to deal with it being wrong.0 -
If just 40 calories makes such an extravagant difference for you, I can almost guarantee you that you are eating too little.
If you are eating a reasonably healthy amount of food, 40 cals won't mean the difference between fat and fit in the end, so don't sweat it.0 -
For Pete's sake, can't you just be happy that My Fitness Pal is available to us and is free? I am over the moon with this app and am happy that I have lost 45 lbs, despite the little difficulties.
Totally agree!0 -
Yes 1 cp is eight ounces liquid. Dry weight in a 1 cup measure can differ greatly.I agree!!!! I mean, when I see 1 cup or half a cup, it drives me crazy! I don't know how big your cup is!
Thank you for bringing this up!
1 cup is an actual measurement. I always assume that is what the measurement is referring to. 1 cup holds about 8 ounces of liquid measurement.
Please feel free to add the item you are eating to the database. You can add your pizza as grams and then the item is available to everyone else once you submit it. I add items to the database all the time with my foods listed how I like to eat them. This website is so flexible, you can customize it just for you!0 -
Or maybe they're eating at a really small deficit. 40 calories extra every day would be the difference of almost 0.1 lb. per week. When you're already losing at a snail's pace, that could really suck.0
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I agree!!!! I mean, when I see 1 cup or half a cup, it drives me crazy! I don't know how big your cup is!
Thank you for bringing this up!
uh....a cup is a unit of measure. one cup = one cup.
Actually the 'cup' size depends on where you live.
-from wiki.Good nfo to know. Did not realize that it differed depending on where you live.
In Commonwealth of nations (such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Indian Subcontinent, South Africa, ...), Latin America and Lebanon one cup is commonly defined as 250 millilitres.
United States customary cup is defined as half a U.S. pint.
The cup currently used in the United States for nutrition labeling is defined in United States law as 240 mL
The Japanese cup is currently defined as 200 mL.
So a 'cup' is actually NOT the same everywhere. Since no one knows where the person who entered the food lives it is just common sense to use a weight as opposed to a measurement that varies.0 -
The US population is quite stubborn about adopting the system of measurements used by virtually the rest of the planet (to the distress of many of us with scientific backgrounds). We're stuck with the outdated system that we use and thus all the measuring cups and spoons I have are based on Cups, tablespoons, etc because that is what I can buy when I'm in the kitchen utensils and gadgets sections of most stores, and all the recipe books I buy and read are also based on those units.
It's not about being stubborn. I can only speak for myself but I happen to enjoy using my vast cookbook collection (as well as online recipes and magazines) and they all use cups, tablespoons, teaspoons. I would be completely lost if all of the sudden the measurements that I've used my entire life suddenly vanished!0 -
Spare me. I'm Canadian and use imperial measurements all the time because hey guess what there's a butt-ton of recipes that use imperial measurements. Also every god damned cup measure has imperial units on them.]It makes me sad because it tells me that person doesn't cook from scratch.
Or, you know, they're not from one of the three countries which do not use the metric system. I find it difficult to believe that French chefs don't cook from scratch. But they probably use grams and mls, not tablespoons and cups.
I am extremely American, but I see the value of weighing food in grams instead of measuring it by volume, which can be wayyy too inaccurate.
I also believe that doing something (measuring with cups and spoons) is better than doing nothing (and getting really fat in typical American fashion).
Just don't ask me to start using Celsius. I prefer our finer gradations on the Fahrenheit scale. If I'm doing science, I can use Kelvins... :laugh:
Using cups is very precise when dealing with fluid. This assumes however that your brain is functioning properly and you understand things like what the hell a meniscus is.0 -
I agree!!!! I mean, when I see 1 cup or half a cup, it drives me crazy! I don't know how big your cup is!
Thank you for bringing this up!
I don't know where you're from, but I'm hoping that it's not a place in the world where 1 cup = 8 fl oz.
I also like to weigh my food . . . in ounces, which is a smaller unit for a pound. I renounce your grams.
^^^This. My scale weighs in ounces, I hate it when items are listed in grams. My cup is also a measuring cup.
i agree with this - my scale is in ounces and i use actual measuring cups to figure out my 1 cup of cereal, 1/4 cup of dried cranberries, etc. usually when i see something in grams (or even in ozs and i've measured using my measuring cups/spoons) i go to google and convert to figure out how many grams/ozs i have. ie: 2 tablespoons of unsalted, roasted peanuts equals 1 oz (i NOW know this thanks to google).0 -
I'm not sure where you live but here in the U.S. a lot of food items are not given a gram serving size. Instead it could be in ounces, cups, etc. And I think you're being awfully anal weighing prepackaged foods.
I'm American. I weigh all my food in grams. I have never seen a US package that doesn't have both English standard and metric.0 -
No grams for me leave it as it is...thank you0
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I have taken granola bars out and weighed them. For the most part they weigh what they say they weight And typically I find packages tend to have less than their reported amounts.
I'm in the US and I have to disagree with both points. It's extremely rare to find a packaged food that doesn't list it's serving as /g. I'd challenge you to find a food that doesn't list it's serving in grams. As far as weighing prepackaged food, I have to do this. I'm very small and my deficit is not large. There is no room for error. Weights on prepackaged foods are always wrong. Discrepancies can equal up to 100 calories, and suddenly I'm no longer in a deficit. Call it anal if you want, it works. Not weighing my food didn't.I'm not sure where you live but here in the U.S. a lot of food items are not given a gram serving size. Instead it could be in ounces, cups, etc. And I think you're being awfully anal weighing prepackaged foods.
I don't mean to be contrary and i certainly didn't mean to rustle any jimmies... I get your second point but honestly, I'll never pull a granola bar out of it's wrapper and weigh it to see the discrepancy between it's weight and the weight listed on the package.
As for your first point, I may just buy odd things but in my house right now, the following things do not have grams listed: block mild cheddar (listed in oz), international delight coffee creamer (TBSP and mL), Pace black bean dip (TBSP and mL), and Shopper's Fench bread. That's just a quick glance around. For some of these, I will carefully measure out the serving size and weigh it so I don't have to dirty measuring spoons again.
1 oz = 28.35 grams.0 -
Why would it bother people to have the choice to do either one? "Why does it have to be wrong or right? Why does it have to be one way or the other?"No grams for me leave it as it is...thank you0 -
And my experience has been the opposite. Nobody wants to get pilloried for giving less than their advertised amounts, so they err on the side of overfilling. They're allowed to be off by 20% in the United States. That makes an *enormous* difference.I have taken granola bars out and weighed them. For the most part they weigh what they say they weight And typically I find packages tend to have less than their reported amounts.0
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