Sweet potato confuses me

CurlyCockney
CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Could someone please explain how this works, as I've got an awful feeling I'm not logging enough calories.

I buy Asda Mini Sweet Potatoes, and the label says it's 34 kcal per 100g (boiled). The same brand of regular-sized sweet potatoes is 94 kcal per 100g (also boiled). Where have those extra 60 kcal per 100g come from? I thought it may have something to do with the water being absorbed, but if I had the bigger ones I'd cut them to the size of the mini ones anyway before cooking, so I can't figure out what difference it would make.
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Replies

  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
    I would use the usda entry and weigh them raw. I weigh everything raw
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    meganridenour wrote: »
    I would use the usda entry and weigh them raw. I weigh everything raw

    Thanks, but that doesn't answer the question. The labels (and UK labels are much more reliable than US ones apparantly) gives different kcals per 100g boiled.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Typo? If it's just sweet potato and you cook them from raw, they'll be around 80 calories per 100 grams.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    You're either reading the labels wrong or the labels themselves are wrong
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    edited February 2016
    try looking at this ...
    https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=sweet+potato+nutrition
    and at this
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calorie-chart-nutrition-facts

    No idea why your labels seem to differ. perhaps there is something on the label that your are not seeing ... look for the words 'per serving' and 'servings per container' to see if that clears it up. Or the label has an error on it?

    and another site ...
    http://www.nutracheck.co.uk/CaloriesIn/Product/Search?desc=sweet+potato
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  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Typo? If it's just sweet potato and you cook them from raw, they'll be around 80 calories per 100 grams.

    That's what I'm worried about (that it's an error I mean). Asda's website doesn't have the mini ones listed, so I can't double check there.

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  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    Hehehe I guess I wanted someone to say "it's ok, you can keep smothering them in butter...look how few calories they are!"

    I'll use the full-sized potato data for now, thanks for your help :-)
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Labeling error.
  • Pinkylee77
    Pinkylee77 Posts: 432 Member
    different breeds of sweet potato may have different values, often what one calls a sweet potato may be a yam.
  • tomw86
    tomw86 Posts: 71 Member
    The data on the label is for 100g boiled not raw so the calories will be lower as the potato will absorb water during boiling. Asda (and others) do this regularly with rice and pasta too. Compare cooked brown rice (120kcals per 100g) to raw (320kcal per 100g) and you'll see what I mean. They get away with it by mentioning somewhere on the packet that xx grams of dry product gives the suggested serving - which they then list as the nutritional information. Frankly it's questionable behavior but perfectly legal here in the UK.

    Sweet potato is between 80 to 100kcal per 100g raw no matter what size it is in the bag. Sorry about that :(
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited February 2016
    That's strange. It says clearly "values per 100 grams", and the kilojoules correspond with the kilocalories, so it's not a simple printing error. The value for folic acid is also off (way off; 10 times more than my source).
    The carbs are totally off. And it doesn't even add up. Fat 0.3x9=2.7 Carbs+ protein (4+2.1)x4=24.4 makes 27.1 That isn't 34!
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    I know I'm clutching at straws now, but is it possible that the peel has less calories than the actual sweet potato, and thus fewer calories as a whole because there's more peel in 100g of mini ones?
  • Mirasaki
    Mirasaki Posts: 27 Member
    Possibly boiling removes some of the sugars from the potatoes? But other than that I've no idea!
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    tomw86 wrote: »
    The data on the label is for 100g boiled not raw so the calories will be lower as the potato will absorb water during boiling. Asda (and others) do this regularly with rice and pasta too. Compare cooked brown rice (120kcals per 100g) to raw (320kcal per 100g) and you'll see what I mean. They get away with it by mentioning somewhere on the packet that xx grams of dry product gives the suggested serving - which they then list as the nutritional information. Frankly it's questionable behavior but perfectly legal here in the UK.

    Sweet potato is between 80 to 100kcal per 100g raw no matter what size it is in the bag. Sorry about that :(

    I was comparing the data for both types boiled, not one raw and one boiled.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    http://groceries.asda.com/product/sweet-potatoes/asda-growers-selection-sweet-potatoes/34872944

    Just use those values.
  • tomw86
    tomw86 Posts: 71 Member
    CurlyCockney wrote: »
    tomw86 wrote: »
    The data on the label is for 100g boiled not raw so the calories will be lower as the potato will absorb water during boiling. Asda (and others) do this regularly with rice and pasta too. Compare cooked brown rice (120kcals per 100g) to raw (320kcal per 100g) and you'll see what I mean. They get away with it by mentioning somewhere on the packet that xx grams of dry product gives the suggested serving - which they then list as the nutritional information. Frankly it's questionable behavior but perfectly legal here in the UK.

    Sweet potato is between 80 to 100kcal per 100g raw no matter what size it is in the bag. Sorry about that :(

    I was comparing the data for both types boiled, not one raw and one boiled.

    Fair enough, I'd log the raw usda entry then. I do that for all my fruit, vegetables and starches to avoid these sorts of discrepancies in labels - even though I'm in the UK and not the US.
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    cityruss wrote: »
    http://groceries.asda.com/product/sweet-potatoes/asda-growers-selection-sweet-potatoes/34872944

    Just use those values.

    Yep, I think that's what I'll have to do, thanks :-)
  • lousoulbody
    lousoulbody Posts: 663 Member
    They are so much better baked. :) & easier.
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    Weigh everything raw...problem solved
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    mrswhitehog wrote: »
    They are so much better baked. :) & easier.

    Ha! I know - they're delicious baked! Unfortunately they don't fit in with my plan from the dietician that way (it's a GL thing).
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    codsterlaing95 wrote: »
    Weigh everything raw...problem solved

    Not solved, as the label doesn't give the nutrition raw. I'm going to use the big potato data for now, but I've just emailed the store in case they can shed some light on this.
  • HASWLRS
    HASWLRS Posts: 8,001 Member
    I agree with @Pinkylee77..... they are different varieties of sweet potatoes (or yams) or whatever. So they are different nutritionally too.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    CurlyCockney wrote: »
    codsterlaing95 wrote: »
    Weigh everything raw...problem solved

    Not solved, as the label doesn't give the nutrition raw. I'm going to use the big potato data for now, but I've just emailed the store in case they can shed some light on this.

    I think someone was drinking on the job. The calories from the macros don't add up to total calories. Unless you count fiber. Apparently you can get any number you want. :s
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    I might get a free potato as compensation ;-)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Big Potato is behind all this :p
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    Hmmph, they could at least use Celebrity Big Potato!

    Once again, thanks everyone for your help (I realise I didn't respond to you all, but I read everything).
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    So, I've finally received a response from Asda:
    Sweet potato nutrition data
    Response By Email (Claire Brant) (23/03/2016 08.22 AM)
    Hello

    Thanks for your patience whilst I have been speaking with our Technical Team about the Sweet Potatoes.

    I am sorry for the confusion caused with the nutritional data. I can appreciate how you feel about this.

    Our Technical Team have advised that we have two different suppliers packing both of these lines.
    We have 2 different calorific values is that one supplier, packing the mini sweet potatoes, used a reference databank of nutritional data that was first published in 2002 (version 6). The other supplier of the 1kg sweet potato pack used information from a more recent version of this document that was republished in 2015 (version 7).

    The 1kg sweet potato pack had ASDA packaging created last year, whereas the mini sweet potato packaging was created before the newer version of the nutritional data was published. This hopefully explains as to why we have 2 differing calorific values. As to why the calorific values in version 7 of the data bank differ to those of version 6 I believe is down to how the authors of this document have derived their data. Specifically in version 6 fibre was not included in the contribution to calorific values but in version 7 it was.

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) maintains the UK Nutrient Databank, which contains extensive information on the nutrient content of foods commonly consumed in the UK. The McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods (CoF) book series, contains nutrient composition data based on information from this databank. This is the same data bank that we use for sweet potatoes.

    Once again, thanks for contacting me and I hope the above makes sense to you. If I can be of further help, please let me know.


    I'm still not really sure what it means, but I'm hoping someone here will put it into basic English for me :smile:

  • Kimo159
    Kimo159 Posts: 508 Member
    How don't they fit your plan baked?? I have a misto oil sprayer and just mist olive oil on them and bake them, the amount of olive oil that gets puts on them is barely anything. So baked would be similar to boiled? I freaking LOVE baked sweet potato. Just a thought in case that option would work for you so you don't always have to boil them :)
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    I am confused by how this is complex?

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