How accurate are calorie amounts and nutritional info on prepackaged foods?

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nespoIa
nespoIa Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I just ate an Amy's Kitchen meal and the entire thing was only 324 calories which blows my mind. So now I'm wondering how trustworthy calorie amounts on prepackaged meals are. Can/do companies manipulate the nutritional info or is it ridiculous to even be considering this?

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  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Doubt of industrial virtue is not ridiculous, but it's also true that they only have to be within 20% of the number on the label. Obsessing about that 20% borders on ridiculous, though.
  • NoAnalHere
    NoAnalHere Posts: 97 Member
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    I would say they're accurate enough that I don't question it for my sanity but it helps to double check on a food scale! If the container says 324 calories for 250g of food but you weigh it and it's 310g then the calories are off because of the weight
  • musclesandmusic866
    musclesandmusic866 Posts: 1,396 Member
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    I weigh it out. Only way to be accurate.
  • JaxxieKat
    JaxxieKat Posts: 427 Member
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    Those Amy's meals are pretty calorie dense. My favorite is the Chinese noodles with cashew sauce. It's almost 500 calories.
  • nespoIa
    nespoIa Posts: 8 Member
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    JaxxieKat wrote: »
    Those Amy's meals are pretty calorie dense. My favorite is the Chinese noodles with cashew sauce. It's almost 500 calories.

    I had the Black Bean Vegetable Enchiladas and the sauce was so rich I can't believe it's only 324 calories... I love Amy's Mexican meals but I'm currently living in the UK and the selection of Amy's products is so small here compared to the States. :(

    JerSchmare wrote: »
    It's supposed to be with + or - 20%. But, there not very strict regulation of this. It's difficult to get the calories registered, but then, there's no real follow up to ensure things haven't changed. Saying that, however, it works. So, it must be pretty close.

    I wasn't aware of this! I guess when I'm being extra cautious I'll just add 20% more calories on to the meal when I log... just in case. :)

  • ericabrizzi3380
    ericabrizzi3380 Posts: 10 Member
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    Always read amount per serving on labels. Take almonds for example. 1 oz is only 170 calories per serving but a 10 oz bag is 10 servings. If the whole bag is eaten that is a total of 1,700 calories. The same principle applies to any packaged food. Mostly just look for how many servings are in a package, bag, box, etc. If it is labeled as only 1 serving then you are good.

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