Incorrect portion calculation?

jbobbins1505
jbobbins1505 Posts: 2 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hello,

I added a green bell pepper today.

If I have 1 Pepper but 0.5 servings, it’s 12 calories

If I have 0.5 Peppers but 1 serving is 44

Why?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Sounds like a bad database entry.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,055 Member
    Did you use the admin-created entry "Peppers, sweet, green, raw"?

    Unfortunately, the "verified" green check marks in the MFP database are used for both user-created entries and admin-created entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. To find admin entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and paste that into MFP.

    For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    In addition to what others have said, your logging will be more precise if you weigh your food. “One pepper” is not a very precise measurement because peppers are different sizes. The USDA database entry should have options that allow you to enter foods in grams or ounces.
  • jbobbins1505
    jbobbins1505 Posts: 2 Member
    How do I access the UDSA database please? Thank you
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    jbobbins1505 wrote: »
    How do I access the UDSA database please? Thank you

    Search the MFP food database for the item name plus "USDA." In this case, type in "green bell pepper USDA." Your green bell pepper should be 20 calories per 100 grams.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    The MFP database is a mess. Worse than nothing. Check every entry.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,284 Member
    It's bad, but I'd hardly call it worse than nothing. That would imply it shouldn't be consulted at all.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    The MFP database is a mess. Worse than nothing. Check every entry.

    Yet somehow I managed to lose 100 pounds while using it, and many other people have lost weight while using it as well. I can’t fathom how that constitutes “worse than nothing.”
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,079 Community Helper
    jbobbins1505 wrote: »
    How do I access the UDSA database please? Thank you

    It's at:

    https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

    It was linked in kshama's post above, if you clicked on the words "USDA database" in that post.

    Don't count on searching the MFP database with "foodname USDA" for your food names, and finding an accurate entry (though sometimes that works, those are still user entered, not the admin-created ones).

    I believe the ones kshama means do not have "USDA" in the food name. Rather, they use the food name the USDA uses, which is often in bureaucrat-speak, like ""Peppers, sweet, green, raw" or "Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average".

    After a while, when you search MFP for "tomatoes" or something, you'll recognize those weird bureaucrat-speak names.

    Another clue is that very often, the default quantity is one cup, even for things that are silly to measure in cups, like cherry tomatoes or hard-boiled eggs. However, when you pick the entry, and click on the quantity drop-down, there are many, many options, including really good ones for scale users, like 100g. (A few of these admin entries are corrupted in a way that makes a few of the volume quantity selections very wrong, like a 3,000 calorie tablespoon of something, so you'll recognize them if you accidently pick them. Usually most of the the other quantities for that food are fine.)

    IMO, these tend to be some of the most reliable database entries (other than that one quantity glitch), and you get where you can recognize them easily by the way the names look.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,219 Member
    apullum wrote: »
    jbobbins1505 wrote: »
    How do I access the UDSA database please? Thank you

    Search the MFP food database for the item name plus "USDA." In this case, type in "green bell pepper USDA." Your green bell pepper should be 20 calories per 100 grams.

    Entries that actually have "USDA" in their name are user-created. You would need to check them against the USDA database (at ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list) to verify they are correct. I search the MFP database for the word-string used by the USDA to find the MFP-created (not user-created) database entry. In this case, that would be "peppers, sweet, green, raw".
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