Food Database often WRONG!

eb2012
eb2012 Posts: 9 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
So I had the fit and trim crab cakes at Ruby Tuesday. I know the menu said 441 cals, but 4 of the entry's on here were wrong! I wen to website to verify it is 441 and updated it, but this is not the first time this has happened.

Replies

  • waverly9876
    waverly9876 Posts: 605 Member
    I know alot of people put their own calories on certain things. But the other day, I was deciding on where to take the girl I nanny and most of the calories for Chilis is wrong on here. I went on their website and got the correct amount. I usually try for the restaurants websites before I actually try it on here.
  • kristina509
    kristina509 Posts: 43 Member
    If you find incorrect information, then you have the option to edit it so that it displays the correct information.
  • potluck965
    potluck965 Posts: 529 Member
    Yup, the entries are only as accurate as the people that enter them. What killed me one time was that a certain thing I eat had an entry that was notated "user corrected(and a date)" and it was waaaay off. This was something I had written right on the box, so either they were lying on the box or the user that "corrected" it was mistaken.

    It always pays to try several different entries in the database to try to match one up with what you think should be correct. I have been known to go to the manufacturer's website for more info or search databases on other sites, as well.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    It happens. Either due to human error or sometimes restaurants have updated nutritional information as the years go by, and/or ingredients change. The good thing is that you get to input the correct info. I actually appreciate the feature to edit or add food to the database.
  • littttlelaurra
    littttlelaurra Posts: 229 Member
    I have found some of the foods wrong but you can reenter it on your own under a new heading or double check that the person
    doesnt have a different portion size down, although it should still show for the full portion even if you yourself only log in you ate half of it. I also double check with chain place web sites before using any data in here. For the most part though all the fresh produce and normal grocery products have been spot on in the data base.
  • Holton
    Holton Posts: 1,018 Member
    You do have to be careful because the information on this site is entered by people like you and me and unfortunately some folks just aren't meticulous. On all the foods that are in the database, you can click on nutritional value before you add it to your diary and you have the option of confirming it is correct or indicating it is wrong. I always look for the entries that have been confirmed by 3 or more people when possible and I always try to confirm a food so help others know that it is accurate.
  • ShellyMacchi
    ShellyMacchi Posts: 975 Member
    sometimes things change too from when they were originally entered into database.. ie: subway sandwiches, as of april, all have lower sodium than what was already shown here in the database.. (yay subway!!! i LOVE that they have lowered it!)
  • 6Janelle13
    6Janelle13 Posts: 353 Member
    I find that too but I always assume that everything is an estimate anyway so i just find something close and go with it.
  • eating4balance
    eating4balance Posts: 743 Member
    sometimes things change too from when they were originally entered into database.. ie: subway sandwiches, as of april, all have lower sodium than what was already shown here in the database.. (yay subway!!! i LOVE that they have lowered it!)

    :smile: I never even thought to check before! That is awesome.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,032 Member
    Love MFP! No plans to leave here anytime soon:flowerforyou: :noway:

    Simply Edit a food if you find an error in the database, many Countries use this site and the nutrition values vary greatly. As was shared above, food packages change and that alters the data. I double check a food when I haven't used it before and edit it if needed. I don't mind doing that at all for my fellow MFP friends as I know we're all doing it to help one another out on our journeys to wellness.
  • chelios7
    chelios7 Posts: 194 Member
    Well this is a for profit website, I'd think they could have someone on the payroll that approves items going into the database and verifying changes rather than just leaving it up to anyone. I've found a lot of errors, it's too bad, but seems like at 75% of time it's correct.
  • Cmccracken1
    Cmccracken1 Posts: 326 Member
    i was showing this website to my uncle this weekend who is borderline diabetic and needs to start tracking his food. He had a diabetic calorie book that they had given him when he went to a clinic to get educated about it and we checked a whole bunch of different things we only found one item that was off about 5 cals but we checked all his favorite staple items and some of his lo cal options against what was in the book and they were all right....
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    Yup, the entries are only as accurate as the people that enter them. What killed me one time was that a certain thing I eat had an entry that was notated "user corrected(and a date)" and it was waaaay off. This was something I had written right on the box, so either they were lying on the box or the user that "corrected" it was mistaken.

    It always pays to try several different entries in the database to try to match one up with what you think should be correct. I have been known to go to the manufacturer's website for more info or search databases on other sites, as well.

    usually things like this happen because the nutritional info varies by region. milk, cheese, yogurt, bread, granola bars, cereal, other boxed stuff, etc. can vary by 10, 20, even 30 or more calories per serving depending on where you live, especially in the u.s. market.
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