Are the food diaries accurate?

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Gizalba
Gizalba Posts: 9
in Food and Nutrition
I am new to this site and at first I thought that the food diaries were brilliant, no more having to write down all my food and calculate it by hand. However, I'm not sure I trust it. On the first day it told me that my beans on toast had 0g of fat in. Even wholemeal bread isn't fatless! And today I added 10 grapes and it told me they equaled 16 cals. I thought grapes were about 2-3 cals each? I'm sorry if I'm being petty but I can't really compare my days when one day there might be lots of inaccuracies, and the next, there isn't, depending on what foods I add. Has anyone else noticed this or am I going mad?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,114 Member
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    You have to check the nutrition facts before entering food. The members add food and they are often incorrect.
  • Brittney24
    Brittney24 Posts: 105
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    I look up the foods to make sure they are accurate as well. If you don't trust them and you know the nutrition off your own package you can make a new one!
  • roxannima
    roxannima Posts: 10 Member
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    I try to choose the items without the *asterick as often as possible, since those are the ones from MFP. If it has an *asterick, it was entered by another member. When I do choose those, I look to see how many other people have confirmed its accuracy; that helps too. Just a couple of things to keep an eye out for. Hope that helps!
  • lmr9
    lmr9 Posts: 628 Member
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    I try to choose the items without the *asterick as often as possible, since those are the ones from MFP. If it has an *asterick, it was entered by another member. When I do choose those, I look to see how many other people have confirmed its accuracy; that helps too. Just a couple of things to keep an eye out for. Hope that helps!

    Ditto.
  • ItsTerriC
    ItsTerriC Posts: 436 Member
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    You can always check the nutrition information for any food before you add it. It will show you if the food has been verified by other users also. If you know it is not accurate of not complete, you can check NO and it will let you edit the information. It's better to edit an entry that is already in the database. That way there aren't so many entries for the same thing, and what is there is accurate.
  • aset132
    aset132 Posts: 91
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    I try to choose the items without the *asterick as often as possible, since those are the ones from MFP. If it has an *asterick, it was entered by another member. When I do choose those, I look to see how many other people have confirmed its accuracy; that helps too. Just a couple of things to keep an eye out for. Hope that helps!

    I didn't realize this. Thanks for the info!
  • lanerichardson
    lanerichardson Posts: 35
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    if you have a smartphone and can get the mfp app there is a barcode scanner that helps out alot with the accuracy of the nutrition value as well.
  • ShellyMacchi
    ShellyMacchi Posts: 975 Member
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    I try to choose the items without the *asterick as often as possible, since those are the ones from MFP. If it has an *asterick, it was entered by another member. When I do choose those, I look to see how many other people have confirmed its accuracy; that helps too. Just a couple of things to keep an eye out for. Hope that helps!

    same here
    and foods i use often, i will enter my own version in my own food list .. ie: there are often differences in the canadian nutritional info on an item compared to the US version.. like portion sizes in grams not cups etc etc
  • Gizalba
    Gizalba Posts: 9
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    Thanks for the advice guys, I'm glad I asked!

    roxannima - I wondered what the astericks' were all about, I will defo try to avoid them in future, or at least be wary.

    ItsTerric - I didn't know you could edit them, I will try to edit those already in the database as you said, instead of making new ones.
  • GoingMedium
    GoingMedium Posts: 28
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    if you have a smartphone and can get the mfp app there is a barcode scanner that helps out alot with the accuracy of the nutrition value as well.

    Where's the scanner? I have an iPhone and didn't think that was an option.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    The food database is largely entered by users. Some entries (those without asterisks) are "standard" entries. But the rest are user entered and there several variables that can make the entries for the same thing different.

    First, there are people from all over the world on MFP, and the same product can have different ingredients/portions in different countries, or even regions of the same country.

    Also, over time, companies change recipes, change package size/portion size, etc. So even a couple of months can mean the same item can have different values.

    And, of course, there is always user error. Some people also don't track all of the different nutrients, so they may enter only calories.

    The site creators are continually working on verifying database information, but there are literally tens of thousands of entries - there's really no way to get to all of them.

    However, remember that you can edit/correct an entry if you believe it is inaccurate. Pull up the nutrition box and there is an option there to correct it. And, whenever possible, look through ALL of the entries to find one that matches what you need, rather than further cluttering up the database with ANOTHER new entry. :flowerforyou:
  • thisisjulz
    thisisjulz Posts: 48
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    if you have a smartphone and can get the mfp app there is a barcode scanner that helps out alot with the accuracy of the nutrition value as well.

    I'd love to know where the scanner is located! Thanksl
  • rockabillydarlin
    rockabillydarlin Posts: 244 Member
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    if you have a smartphone and can get the mfp app there is a barcode scanner that helps out alot with the accuracy of the nutrition value as well.

    Where's the scanner? I have an iPhone and didn't think that was an option.

    You can only scan on the Android phones.
  • cherilyn221
    cherilyn221 Posts: 62 Member
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    I was going along assuming the foods were correct and entered by the site after confirming the accuracy. Now I will check my food labels. Thank you for the heads up. Wow....maybe that's why I'm not losing weight and thinking this sure is a lot of food I get. I'll buy a good calorie and nutrition guide today to double check my foods in the future.
  • aml17
    aml17 Posts: 30 Member
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    I havn't seen a scanner on my iphone either.. but I did download an app called "fooducate" that was free and it has a barcode scanner.
  • rockabillydarlin
    rockabillydarlin Posts: 244 Member
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    I havn't seen a scanner on my iphone either.. but I did download an app called "fooducate" that was free and it has a barcode scanner.

    The scanner is only on the Android MFP app.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,114 Member
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    I try to choose the items without the *asterick as often as possible, since those are the ones from MFP. If it has an *asterick, it was entered by another member. When I do choose those, I look to see how many other people have confirmed its accuracy; that helps too. Just a couple of things to keep an eye out for. Hope that helps!

    Once you edit an item or enter a new item, it will also appear without an asterisk. Just an FYI, to help you recognize your own entries in the database.

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