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Really stupid question

Nertak
Nertak Posts: 34 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I feel like I must be stupid and missing something obvious, so I thought I would ask here.

I have cans of black beans. They say they have 3.5 servings and that each serving is 122 grams. To get the total amount of grams I would do

61+122+122+122=427 grams right?

When I actually weigh the contents of the can They add up to 354grams. Now I know that the amounts given are exact but isn't 73grams allot to be off by?

Am I doing something stupid with my math?

Replies

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    the can is taking into account weight of the beans and the liquid unless it states "drained" on the side. And servings are generally an estimate, meaning that there are ~3.5 servings in there. There may only be 3.

    I just looked up the nutritional info for the type of canned bean in its boiled state and use that as my custom food data. E.g. black beans in a can, I look up "black beans boiled nutrition" and use that info. Even if it's not entirely correct, the key is being consistent in how you log it.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,072 Member
    1) Labels don't have to be exact on the number of servings.
    2) Are you draining before weighing? (you should drain and rinse if you're worried about sodium, but weigh before draining for the purposes of the comparison that you're doing)
    3) The can should say (not on the nutrition label) what the actual net weight is. Divide that by the grams in a serving, and that will tell you how many servings are actually in the can.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,072 Member

    I just looked up the nutritional info for the type of canned bean in its boiled state and use that as my custom food data. E.g. black beans in a can, I look up "black beans boiled nutrition" and use that info. Even if it's not entirely correct, the key is being consistent in how you log it.

    MFP actually already has entries for beans (e.g., "beans - black beans [or whatever kind you're having], cooked, boiled, with salt [or without salt if you actually cooked them yourself without salt]" -- if you find an entry like that, without an asterisk, it's from the USDA database, and it's probably more accurate than the label, unless the manufacturer added fat or something.
  • Nertak
    Nertak Posts: 34 Member
    I was draining it before weighing. I guess that could be part of the reason. Still 73 grams of liquid?
  • boku70
    boku70 Posts: 80
    IIRC, the net weight includes the weight of the container. The nutritional info (number of servings * serving size) is the actual weight of the product.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member

    I just looked up the nutritional info for the type of canned bean in its boiled state and use that as my custom food data. E.g. black beans in a can, I look up "black beans boiled nutrition" and use that info. Even if it's not entirely correct, the key is being consistent in how you log it.

    MFP actually already has entries for beans (e.g., "beans - black beans [or whatever kind you're having], cooked, boiled, with salt [or without salt if you actually cooked them yourself without salt]" -- if you find an entry like that, without an asterisk, it's from the USDA database, and it's probably more accurate than the label, unless the manufacturer added fat or something.

    Yes, I realize that. I do not utilize MFP's entries at all, simply because there are far too many user-submitted entries and because I would rather cross-reference the nutritional data from websites I honestly trust more for nutritional information. Even if the official MFP data is the same as other websites I use, I will still use other websites. I then create my own entry for every single food I eat more than once so that I can calculate the correct calories based off of the macros (this usually isn't needed for fiber-less food, but in some cases it still is needed).
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,216 Member
    IIRC, the net weight includes the weight of the container. The nutritional info (number of servings * serving size) is the actual weight of the product.

    that is NOT correct.

    Net weight means the weight of the contents, excluding the container.
  • catcalledjinx
    catcalledjinx Posts: 85
    I would use the higher figure so that your calorie balance is in credit :):):) Bonus
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    There is never the stated amount of food in containers.

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