Little Annoyed at Inaccurate Nutritional Info in the Databas

healthybabs
healthybabs Posts: 600 Member
edited October 2 in Food and Nutrition
I am fairly new here but have been on a weight loss journey for a year on another site. I like it here and I am trying to get used to this site. So as I understand it, any food in the database with an * is one that has been added by a member. If I am incorrect, please someone enlighten me. I find it really annoying that there are so many duplicates all with different nutritional information. I tried to find a fresh ear of corn on the cob today and found an entry which I selected. It said 214 calories and had no other information. I went to other sites and found a fresh medium ear of sweet corn without butter or salt has 80 calories. I discovered this while trying to figure out how come I couldn't get my carbs increased. Well it seems that whomever had entered that particular entry didn't bother to capture the correct calories or any of the other nutritional information.
I think my solution is to enter all my own foods with accurate information and bypass trying to use the data base on here.
Also, I guess you cannot see other member's recipes??? Gee, sure would be nice to be able to share them from the DB. Oh well, guess I have to add all my own of that too???

Any suggestions from you long term folks would be greatly appreciated as to how you maneuver the site to handle this.
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Replies

  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    All you really have to do is look around and find the proper entry, it usually takes very little time to do this. Always double check anything and no, you can't share the recipes from the My Recipe section other than to just tell people about it manually. The longer you use it, the more likely you'll have your foods in the 'recent' area or in 'my foods' from entering it yourself.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    When you see an incorrect entry, you can edit the information to correct it. I try to do that when I find one that is just horribly wrong.
  • Janetlabori
    Janetlabori Posts: 20
    It happens to all of us. What I do is read the nutritional value on the package of whatever I'm eating and see if there is one that has to correct info on it. It there's isn't one, I just fix one and add it to my meals. This way everytime I eat the product, I get the correct info.
  • bubbab666
    bubbab666 Posts: 54
    totally agree. I get clients to use this site all the time and it drives me nuts when ppl are so lazy that they can't enter correct info.
    But I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised that many cannot do simple addition and subtraction. I always have to double check everything.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    Man, I had an ear of corn the other night and 178 sounded ok so I used that one. Now you're telling me I could have eaten an extra 100 calories! :noway: I am usually pretty good about looking at several entries to make sure the calories seem right and of course if you have a packaged food always check it against that. Sometimes I wonder if people were on crack when they entered the nutritional info.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    It IS frustrating, I'll gie you that.

    But I dont think the way to address numerous duplicates is to add even more entries!

    Having a database populated by users is a great idea, but it does have its flaws. Once you've put in the foods you eat most often, they'll be there on your most recent lists, so hunting down or correcting a food becomes less common a problem as time goes on.
  • mmadhani
    mmadhani Posts: 15 Member
    Livestrong.com has a calorie counter too. I find my self "googling" to verify "dubious" calorie and nutirional info on this site. So if in doubt, just google or go to livestrong.com. :)

    Happy counting!
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
    Livestrong.com has a calorie counter too. I find my self "googling" to verify "dubious" calorie and nutirional info on this site. So if in doubt, just google or go to livestrong.com. :)

    Happy counting!

    ^ this. sorry this database isn't perfect, but it's what we have. try looking at different entries, wheighing your food, etc.
  • TipMcE
    TipMcE Posts: 158
    I find this annoying too. I edit a lot of entries and always double check what I find in the database with the label on my food. It's hard though when you're looking for fresh produce or fruit. I had the same issue with corn on the cob myself yesterday. Couldn't believe the number of entries! The nice thing about editing an entry is that then it is stored in "my foods" so you won't have to search the database for it again. Also most of your foods will show up in the recent tab so you won't have to search the database each time you eat! I guess you can also opt to not share an item you create in the database so you're not adding to the clutter.

    As far as the recipe sharing goes, I read in a sticky or other forum post that they are gathering recipes and will introduce the sharing at a later date. I haven't opted to share because it looks like it's just a listing of ingredients and there isn't a place to add how you actually make the food!

    But, you know it's a free site so overall I'm pleased and try not to get too upset with the database. Sometimes I cross reference with calorieking or livestrong, but I find those databases have faults too.
  • Angellore
    Angellore Posts: 519 Member
    Cross referencing is easy enough. If something is very wrong you can correct it, doesn't take two minutes and it means other people won't make the mistake. Sometimes recipes change (obv not the case with corn!) and an item may change in nutrition. I think it is good that it is populated by users, after all it would be impossible for the site owners to include every food in the world in there! I used to do weight watchers online and there was a ton of food they didn't have the points for so you had to work it out yourself. Considering this site is free I don't think you have a great deal of room to complain about it.
  • sandrinamsilva
    sandrinamsilva Posts: 651 Member
    I don't get annoyed at all. Just double check everything and your done. I haven't found too many things wrong. I noticed it's easier to search brand names this way. This site is alot more user friendly. No need to enter EVERYTHING like I used to do with FitDay.com
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    I usually double check with calorieking.com if something looks shady.
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
    Generic items like an ear of corn I would expect to have differences. There are so many variables involved there and sources for that information that it's tough to say there's one answer. For those when I enter them I try to focus on using a weight to specify the serving size rather than something arbitrary like "1 ear of corn". Who's to say how big one ear is?

    What I find more frustrating are when the ones where I scan a bar code, get the right item (size and variety) and for whatever reason the information is not accurate. As noted, on those you can just edit it and make it right. I think (hope) this happens because the manufacturers change their labels because I can't understand why someone would just enter it wrong.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Sometimes, it's the foods themselves that change. This doesn't apply to the ear of corn, of course, but I've seen certain items I've eaten that now have different calorie/carb/protein/fat numbers than what I entered/edited myself 5 months ago. And when you factor in the differences between foods made by the same brand, but distributed in different countries, it can get crazy.

    I'm like others here. If it's a generic food, I always search for the entries without an asterisk because either I entered/edited them myself or they are in the data base from a reputable nutrition site. If no such entry exists, and it's not a food I've used recently, I double-check the package information and if I don't find one that's exact, I'll edit an entry that looks like it SHOULD be the right thing but doesn't have the right numbers.
  • KaySera
    KaySera Posts: 45 Member
    I *sorta* agree with the OP, but it might be because I’m in the UK, where we don’t use “cups” to measure.

    I do wish I could edit to add details, to show 1oz or 100g etc of an item where a “cup” has been used– I’m sure that alone would save a lot of duplicates. It may be because I don’t understand the “cup” measurement – I’ve been told that a cup is equal to “about 8oz” ?

    I was searching for Greek yoghurt on the database today and came across “a serving of 1 small pot” – a small pot to one person might be huge to another!

    However, I love this site – it makes me aware of the portion size I should be eating, more than anything else.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    I *sorta* agree with the OP, but it might be because I’m in the UK, where we don’t use “cups” to measure.

    I do wish I could edit to add details, to show 1oz or 100g etc of an item where a “cup” has been used– I’m sure that alone would save a lot of duplicates. It may be because I don’t understand the “cup” measurement – I’ve been told that a cup is equal to “about 8oz” ?

    I was searching for Greek yoghurt on the database today and came across “a serving of 1 small pot” – a small pot to one person might be huge to another!

    However, I love this site – it makes me aware of the portion size I should be eating, more than anything else.
    The concept of a US "cup" can be confusing because a cup can either be a liquid or solid measurement. A liquid cup equals exactly 8 fluid ounces. The "cups" of water on MFP are 8 ounces of water. The cup used to measure solid objects, however, is measuring volume, not weight. 1 Cup = 236.58823625 Cubic Centimeters

    I think the reason they have the same name is that 8 ounces of water fills a one cup area of volume. In other words, for water, a cup is a cup.
  • duqtape
    duqtape Posts: 121 Member
    I'm fascinated by the way the bar code scanner works on the iPhone app. It's correct.
  • nikkif87
    nikkif87 Posts: 193 Member
    I usually add my own if I have any doubts or if I can't do that I usually pick a choice that has slightly higher calories than the others. I know that sounds crazy but I would rather guess more than too less of calories.
  • KaySera
    KaySera Posts: 45 Member
    [/quote]
    The concept of a US "cup" can be confusing because a cup can either be a liquid or solid measurement. A liquid cup equals exactly 8 fluid ounces. The "cups" of water on MFP are 8 ounces of water. The cup used to measure solid objects, however, is measuring volume, not weight. 1 Cup = 236.58823625 Cubic Centimeters

    I think the reason they have the same name is that 8 ounces of water fills a one cup area of volume. In other words, for water, a cup is a cup.
    [/quote]

    Thank you for clarifying that (I think!:smile: )

    So if I'm using an American recipe that says a cup of flour.....?
  • healthybabs
    healthybabs Posts: 600 Member
    :happy: Thanks everyone, I will work with it. Sorry if it sounded like I was complaining...I am not. I am an IT geek by trade and I just find DB's like this annoying. Wondered how those of you who have been here for a long time managed thru it. I appreciate the "freeness" of the site and there are actually alot of features here that are pretty slick!
  • healthybabs
    healthybabs Posts: 600 Member
    Cross referencing is easy enough. If something is very wrong you can correct it, doesn't take two minutes and it means other people won't make the mistake. Sometimes recipes change (obv not the case with corn!) and an item may change in nutrition. I think it is good that it is populated by users, after all it would be impossible for the site owners to include every food in the world in there! I used to do weight watchers online and there was a ton of food they didn't have the points for so you had to work it out yourself. Considering this site is free I don't think you have a great deal of room to complain about it.
    Great, I didn't realize you could change someone elses entry. I will certainly do that if grossly incorrect to do my part to keep the DB as clean as possible. Hey, wonder if you can delete duplicate entries? Will have to check that out. I guess if we all do our part, it will gradually get better.
  • kardeamad
    kardeamad Posts: 43

    So if I'm using an American recipe that says a cup of flour.....?
    Depends on the flour but generally a cup of plain flour is around 125g.

    Lots of conversion sites if you google them - or you could do what I did years ago and buy some US cups :smile:
  • hellen72
    hellen72 Posts: 144 Member
    Be careful with the cup translation as a cup of flour will weigh different to a cup of marshmallows so you can't say a cup is a certain weight,
    I try to find something in grams or just add it myself in g.
  • mokeymokey
    mokeymokey Posts: 11
    I *sorta* agree with the OP, but it might be because I’m in the UK, where we don’t use “cups” to measure.

    I do wish I could edit to add details, to show 1oz or 100g etc of an item where a “cup” has been used– I’m sure that alone would save a lot of duplicates. It may be because I don’t understand the “cup” measurement – I’ve been told that a cup is equal to “about 8oz” ?

    I was searching for Greek yoghurt on the database today and came across “a serving of 1 small pot” – a small pot to one person might be huge to another!

    However, I love this site – it makes me aware of the portion size I should be eating, more than anything else.

    I'm in the UK too and you can pick up cup measuring spoons for a few £s is larger supermarkets.
    A cup is 250ml, half cup 125ml and so on. I get confused when measuring things like berries in cups as there is lots of air in-between. I do find lots of the values in the database have grams an option so it's not too bad.
  • westindiangal
    westindiangal Posts: 4 Member
    When I come across duplicates, I check the entry with the most confirmations. If I come across an entry without confirmations, I then go to another source for validation.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    It annoys me too so I find myself double checking and correcting when it's wrong. Yesterday I double checked using the US National Database (not sure of the exact name) for my vegetables. I also find that even if the calories are right, sometimes people don't enter the nutrients. I checked my potassium intake in Reports and was shocked to see I was under 1g a day! No wonder, the entry for the milk I drink didn't include potassium!!
  • mazza2marilyn
    mazza2marilyn Posts: 145
    I *sorta* agree with the OP, but it might be because I’m in the UK, where we don’t use “cups” to measure.

    I do wish I could edit to add details, to show 1oz or 100g etc of an item where a “cup” has been used– I’m sure that alone would save a lot of duplicates. It may be because I don’t understand the “cup” measurement – I’ve been told that a cup is equal to “about 8oz” ?

    I was searching for Greek yoghurt on the database today and came across “a serving of 1 small pot” – a small pot to one person might be huge to another!

    However, I love this site – it makes me aware of the portion size I should be eating, more than anything else.
    [/quote]
  • mazza2marilyn
    mazza2marilyn Posts: 145
    i live in england too.
    i bought a cup in tescos with all the american cup sizes on. very handy
  • Blueberry09
    Blueberry09 Posts: 821 Member
    I get confused when measuring things like berries in cups as there is lots of air in-between. I do find lots of the values in the database have grams an option so it's not too bad.

    I usually fill a 'cup' with bigger berries and fill the space with extra blueberries. I count them each as 1/2 cup as I'm getting a full cup of berries. Whether that's the right way to do it, I have no idea. But that's what I do.
  • SallieBeige
    SallieBeige Posts: 341 Member
    I guess this all explains the best and the worst of user-built data bases.
    (If users could not add, then the data base would be MUUUCH smaller and we would each be having to work much harder to log our daily intake)

    I also double check if logic tells me it is not right. And if I find a mistake or missing nutrients I do edit - so it is easier for the next person. I have an iron problem so I often check to add iron if necessary. It is interesting to note that some people only add calories ... I guess that is their focus.

    If we all edit to improve, then I guess we will all be making it better for each other.

    I agree it would be nice to delete the duplicates ... but then again if we could all do that might we be deleting entries that someone else finds useful..... hmm, as I said when I started, the best and worst of user-built data bases in one!
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