Accurately weighing canned goods??

KimWillBeThin81
KimWillBeThin81 Posts: 64
edited November 2014 in Health and Weight Loss
Quick question that's been confusing me. When the grams are listed of the amount of calories in canned goods like corn, peas , beans and such, do I measure with the included liquids or are the calories/ grams for drained if its not listed as such. It can be quite a difference if I were to drain the foods before measuring so I am in need of a little advice. Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
    If it says pre-drained weight on the can, you can weigh the whole contents of the can after you've drained, divide that weight by the number of servings, then weigh out that amount to get one serving. Also you can figure out how many calories are in the can by multiplying the calories per serving with the number of servings, that way if you weigh out and eat half a can you can divide that number in half, etc.
  • BernadetteChurch
    BernadetteChurch Posts: 2,210 Member
    If you wouldn't normally eat/drink the liquid then I'd drain the food before measuring.
  • lisaabenjamin
    lisaabenjamin Posts: 665 Member
    Unless the food is packed in oil I would guess the liquid would just be water and maybe some salt or preservative? In which case the cals listed on the can would be the cals in the actual food, not the packing liquid, so weigh the drained food.
  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 682 Member
    I always drain and weigh as even if I cook the veg etc in the water I drain before serving.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
    I drain prior to weighing.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    The people who calculated the calories wouldn't have drained the liquid prior to testing, so the calories on the can will include the liquid, unless stated otherwise. So, if you drain the liquid before weighing, you will likely underestimate the calorie content if you use what is listed on the can.
  • KimWillBeThin81
    KimWillBeThin81 Posts: 64
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    The people who calculated the calories wouldn't have drained the liquid prior to testing, so the calories on the can will include the liquid, unless stated otherwise. So, if you drain the liquid before weighing, you will likely underestimate the calorie content if you use what is listed on the can.

    Thats what I was thinking too.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    edited November 2014
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    The people who calculated the calories wouldn't have drained the liquid prior to testing, so the calories on the can will include the liquid, unless stated otherwise. So, if you drain the liquid before weighing, you will likely underestimate the calorie content if you use what is listed on the can.

    That's always been my assumption as well. General rule of thumb is that, unless the label states otherwise, the calorie count on the package is intended to mean the food as packaged.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    I just weigh what I'm eating.
  • KimWillBeThin81
    KimWillBeThin81 Posts: 64
    So from now on I'll weigh with the liquids, then drain when I eat them and it should be as accurate as possible. Thanks for the info guys. :)
  • KimWillBeThin81
    KimWillBeThin81 Posts: 64
    ^^^ I never noticed that before. I will have to look more closely in the future. I know it might seem trivial but in some cases like with higher calorie dense items the difference can be quite large. Plus constantly underestimating can really add up.

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