Accounting for canned beans & tomatoes

thriftyjenn
thriftyjenn Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I’m so confused 😐
The scan comes up in ml’s, I weigh the entire can (after draining), and note the grams. If I enter that number I end up with about half the calories that the container is supposed to be. Tomatoes mess me up also, when drained they’re so low, but nutritional label always seems so high in calories. Why?

So my can of kidney beans weighed 305 grams, container says 540 ml, and was about 2 cups. What do I log?

My diced tomato can is 796 mls, weighed in at 447 grams drained. Do I just log raw tomatoes?

Thank you. I tried researching but never found a clear answer.

Replies

  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I must say I've never drained canned tomatoes but beans I just go with what gets scanned. Life's too short, and all that.

    Or, try searching for an entry that doesn't pop up mls.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited February 2019
    Use this entry from the USDA database: "Beans, kidney, red, mature seeds, canned, drained solids".

    I've never gotten the amount of servings from canned beans that the label says I should.
  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
    thriftyjenn wrote: »
    I’m so confused 😐
    The scan comes up in ml’s, I weigh the entire can (after draining), and note the grams. If I enter that number I end up with about half the calories that the container is supposed to be. Tomatoes mess me up also, when drained they’re so low, but nutritional label always seems so high in calories. Why?

    So my can of kidney beans weighed 305 grams, container says 540 ml, and was about 2 cups. What do I log?

    My diced tomato can is 796 mls, weighed in at 447 grams drained. Do I just log raw tomatoes?

    Thank you. I tried researching but never found a clear answer.

    My experience, at least with canned beans in my country, is that the nutrition information on beans includes the liquid, so 100 grams is actually logging 50g beans, 50g bean water. That's why it's so low. I either log the undrained weight (because bean water isn't exactly high calorie) while eating the drained beans, or I use a USDA "canned and drained" entry for that particular bean.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    Ive never drained tomatoes either, but beans I weigh drained and log that.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    thriftyjenn wrote: »
    I’m so confused 😐
    The scan comes up in ml’s, I weigh the entire can (after draining), and note the grams. If I enter that number I end up with about half the calories that the container is supposed to be. Tomatoes mess me up also, when drained they’re so low, but nutritional label always seems so high in calories. Why?

    So my can of kidney beans weighed 305 grams, container says 540 ml, and was about 2 cups. What do I log?

    My diced tomato can is 796 mls, weighed in at 447 grams drained. Do I just log raw tomatoes?

    Thank you. I tried researching but never found a clear answer.

    grams are a measure of weight, and mls are a measure of volume. Other than water and liquids with density close to water, you can't go back and forth between them on a one to one basis.

    Also, unless they say so, weights listed on the cans are not drained weights, so it's no surprise you're getting different totals when you drain before weighing.

    As @kshama2001 suggests, I use USDA-based entries in the form of "Beans, [specific variety], mature seeds, canned, drained solids".
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    Does it not include the drained weight on the can? Most of the cans I buy include both for beans at least. I never drain tomatoes the juice is the best part!
  • thriftyjenn
    thriftyjenn Posts: 6 Member
    I didn’t see a canned and drained weight for beans, I’ll look again.

    I sometimes drain tomatoes when I think there’s already too much liquid in my chilli etc... or if out of fresh and using them in a pasta salad or something similar.

    Thanks

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