Logging in pasta - confused about uncooked/cooked! calories

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adampierce142
adampierce142 Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi i've been logging pasta on MFP by using the values that is stated on the pasta packet itself.
Now i'm not sure if this means cooked or uncooked pasta. For example, 100g of fusilli pasta is around 156calories
I'm not sure if i've been underestimating my calories whenever i've been consuming pasta, same goes for rice, cous cous, quinoa etc.

Can someone reassure me or correct me if i am wrong? I've become obsessed with trying to figure out the answer but there have been loads of conflicting answers.

cheers.
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Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Most packaged products have nutritional information based on what is in the box. If you look at the box it will say something like 1 serving = 56g, approx. servings per package 6. Then look at the total weight printed on the front of the packaged food: 340g. You can confirm if the info is uncooked by weighing the food contents in the package (assume a little weight for the box) and you should find it conforms that dry weight = nutritional info.

    Some items will have nutrition according to the box contents and a second listing for 'as prepared'. Such as I've noticed this on mac n cheese, which factors in 'as prepared' with milk, butter.

    For meat, it varies a bit more. The labeling requirements may be different for meat?
  • adampierce142
    adampierce142 Posts: 27 Member
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    the pasta bag is a 500g bag, and recommends 100g per serving!
    There are cooking instructions displayed on the back - cook pasta on the hob for around 10-12mins.
    the values that are displayed on the bag states "cooked as directed" - this led me to believe that the value displayed is for cooked pasta.
    im so confused, and its driving me nuts!
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    If the package states the nutrition values are for "cooked as directed," then there's you answer--cooked. The package usually states it one way or another.
  • adampierce142
    adampierce142 Posts: 27 Member
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    thanks for your answer.
    i've been logging with this 'viewpoint' for weeks now, but what's made me question it is looking at different brands of pasta which states values such as 357 calories per 100g.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    100g is a big serving if you are talking about dry pasta -- not so big for fresh.

    Anyway, I often go to the USDA's National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference to check up on the accuracy of things. Most pastas are pretty much the same in calories since they are made from the same dough. All that changes is the shape. So, looking up the numbers for "Spaghetti, dry, enriched," 100g is 371 kcal of energy -- what we call calories. So, if the label says 371 calories for 100g of pasta, they are talking dry.

    I keep the USDA database bookmarked. It's http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/

    Most food manufacturers, worldwide, tend to use this database to guesstimate their nutrition label calories.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    It is confusing. The calories probably refer to 'cooked as directed' but the weight to raw. Since all that's added in cooking is water, no calories are added. They don't know for sure your cooked weight because some cooks might have more water absorbed than others.

    If it helps, my spaghetti is 370 calories for 100g raw. A portion is 56g but they also give the N.I. for 100g.

    I just noticed the database entry I've been using for micro popcorn is way off, or its my own user error. That's another tough one. A bag is 2.5 servings so the calories are per serving, not per bag.

    All the attention given to the importance of food scales here, I think there's probably as much or more logging error from interpreting the labels and database entries wrong, doing the math wrong, or simply forgetting to log some items entirely.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Pasta should be around 200 calories per 56 grams dry.
  • adampierce142
    adampierce142 Posts: 27 Member
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    what i mean by 100g is that i estimate and guess around 100g of dry pasta before cooking it.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    what i mean by 100g is that i estimate and guess around 100g of dry pasta before cooking it.

    Definitely weigh pasta, at least the first few times you make it. It's calorie dense and difficult to estimate.
  • adampierce142
    adampierce142 Posts: 27 Member
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    i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.

    why am i still confused??
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    what i mean by 100g is that i estimate and guess around 100g of dry pasta before cooking it.
    Dun. Dun. DUNNNNN!
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    Yeah, estimating pasta is courting disaster for sure. Weigh it or the calorie count won't be anything like accurate.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.

    why am i still confused??

    Because the cooked pasta contains a lot of water. It's less pasta for the same weight, and so less calories. Does that make sense?

    If you took 2 oz of dry pasta and then cooked it, then let's say it absorbs 2 oz of water (just for the sake of argument). Now you've got the same number of calories, but 4 oz of food. See? And that's why people will tell you to weigh before cooking whenever possible. Because if you cook your pasta for 8 minutes it might absorb 3 3/4 oz water. If you cook it for 10 minutes it might absorb 4 oz water.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.

    why am i still confused??
    I'm not sure. If you were to weigh out 100 grams of dry pasta, that will be 370 calories (or whatever). When you cook that pasta, it's going to absorb a crap-ton (metric, that is, so crap-tonne?) of water and the pasta after cooking will weigh something like 300-400 g.

    Conversely, that 100 grams of cooked pasta probably only weighed 35 grams or so when it was dry.

    Make sense now?
  • sprintto50
    sprintto50 Posts: 410 Member
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    That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.

    why am i still confused??
    I'm not sure. If you were to weigh out 100 grams of dry pasta, that will be 370 calories (or whatever). When you cook that pasta, it's going to absorb a crap-ton (metric, that is, so crap-tonne?) of water and the pasta after cooking will weigh something like 300-400 g.

    Conversely, that 100 grams of cooked pasta probably only weighed 35 grams or so when it was dry.

    Make sense now?
    like this ^
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
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    Correct me if I'm wrong... but if dry pasta is boiled in water, then wouldn't the nutrition information be the same regardless of if it's cooked or not? I mean, 56g of dry pasta obviously weighs less than after that same 56g is cooked due to water absorption. But the two would have the same nutritional information, given you didn't add anything to the water (salt or a little oil).
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
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    That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.

    I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.
  • karenmarie1234
    karenmarie1234 Posts: 16
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    This site is great because it will give you calories based on type of pasta in both the dry and cooked versions. It's too much or a pain to cook a serving of dry pasta separate from the rest of the families just to determine the calories for my serving.

    http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/food/pasta
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Correct me if I'm wrong... but if dry pasta is boiled in water, then wouldn't the nutrition information be the same regardless of if it's cooked or not? I mean, 56g of dry pasta obviously weighs less than after that same 56g is cooked due to water absorption. But the two would have the same nutritional information, given you didn't add anything to the water (salt or a little oil).

    Not by weight it wouldn't. Because 56 grams of dry pasta will no longer weigh 56 grams once it's cooked.

    eta: nevermind I think I misread-- yes it would still have the same calorie count. Only the weight would change.

    I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.

    Mine does too but OP said his says "cooked according to instructions." And also there's not a whole lot of variety in the calorie count for pasta. Some, but not that much.

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