UK food labelling confusion - "as consumed"

sofrances
sofrances Posts: 156 Member
in Food and Nutrition
On a UK food label of something like rice, quinoa, etc., what does it mean when the calories are listed per "per 100g (as consumed). Does that mean you have to weigh it once it has been cooked (i.e. once it has absorbed water etc.) in order to get an accurate calorie count?

Replies

  • KrissFlavored
    KrissFlavored Posts: 327 Member
    I would assume so..

    Honestly rice and stuff annoys me, I had this conversation last night with a friend.

    The box I have says 30g is 110 calories or 125ml prepared. However rice isnt a liquid but I imagine they mean half a cup.

    However the box also says 2 servings is half a cup of uncooked rice, however a half a cup.uncooked does not equal 60g lol so it's really important to weigh it considering how off the box is

    Then i noticed the cooking instructions..

    So for 2 servings of rice ( half cup), it says to cook it in 1 and 1/3 cups of water.

    If i wanted 6 servings, then logically i would follow those instructions 3 times... so 1.5 cups uncooked rice and then 4 cups of water since 1 and 1/3 × 3 = 4 cups

    However when you look down it says 6 servings is 1 cup of uncooked rice and 2 cups of water lol

    So 6 servings is less rice and less water then 2 servings x 3, which would also be 6 servings.. lol

    I wondered if maybe this was a misprint haha.. cause first time I cooked this rice it was drowning in water and I can see why.. lol

    I honestly wanna write uncle Ben's and ask them what the hell lol anyway

    Yes, I would assume cooked
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,893 Member
    sofrances wrote: »
    On a UK food label of something like rice, quinoa, etc., what does it mean when the calories are listed per "per 100g (as consumed). Does that mean you have to weigh it once it has been cooked (i.e. once it has absorbed water etc.) in order to get an accurate calorie count?

    I would assume so. Here in the US I see "as prepared," which makes more sense to me but probably means the same.
  • DanielaAntonella
    DanielaAntonella Posts: 6 Member
    edited June 2020
    I usually weigh everything raw and search up the calories for the raw product. So say I’m making basmati rice I would look up on the app 100g raw basmati rice and count those calories. Some back labels are complicated if not explained properly this just makes it easier.
  • ghudson92
    ghudson92 Posts: 2,061 Member
    Yes - "as consumed" means when the food has been prepared for consumption.
  • PAFC84
    PAFC84 Posts: 1,871 Member
    Just curious then, so when you see the calorie/protein information for something like chicken is that the (raw) information before cooking? It does not say as consumed. I realise that people (that I know) do not eat their chicken raw.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    PAFC84 wrote: »
    Just curious then, so when you see the calorie/protein information for something like chicken is that the (raw) information before cooking? It does not say as consumed. I realise that people (that I know) do not eat their chicken raw.

    Most chicken and meat products are calculated raw unless specified. It would be hard to assume cooked calories of a raw chicken breast for labeling purposes without knowing how that chicken will be prepared.

    Just save yourself the confusion and use an official food database if you're using whole foods. It's much easier and you get to pick the entries raw or prepared a certain way (I usually like to log everything raw unless I'm not the one cooking).
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
    edited June 2020
    Thank you Amusedmonkey, have you taken this thread to a circular position? Rice, quinoa etc, can be integrated into a meal, so "could" that mean one disregards the other ingredients one adds. (looking desperately for saved calories, I'm giggling) Remembering broken biscuits don't have calories, heard that one somewhere, a life time ago.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited June 2020
    Fuzzipeg wrote: »
    Thank you Amusedmonkey, have you taken this thread to a circular position? Rice, quinoa etc, can be integrated into a meal, so "could" that mean one disregards the other ingredients one adds. (looking desperately for saved calories, I'm giggling) Remembering broken biscuits don't have calories, heard that one somewhere, a life time ago.

    Nothing is disregarded, usually by prepared rice they mean steamed or boiled and drained nothing added. If anything is added it needs to be logged. Reminds me of my friend's "calories don't count if you walked to the store to buy it, you've already burned them off". That's quite a few calories saved if you're buying a tub of ice cream.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,389 Member
    When I lived in the UK I always specifically refused to buy such products. If a company can't give me the raw calories then I'm just not buying it. Here I occasionally buy a meal box which contains veggies and other things to cook a meal. It's also the completely rubbish 'calories according to prepared meal'. Then the cooking instruction states to add 3 chicken breasts and other vague things. Or make it a vegetarian meal :s But then I log the veggies by weight and use generic entries for pasta/orzo/rice/etc. I generally throw out the spice mix as those tend to taste overbearingly like Maggie, regardless of what it is. I occasionally contact the producer and want to know what the calories of the spice mix is (which they are never able to tell). Just for the sake of it.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,105 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    When I lived in the UK I always specifically refused to buy such products. If a company can't give me the raw calories then I'm just not buying it. Here I occasionally buy a meal box which contains veggies and other things to cook a meal. It's also the completely rubbish 'calories according to prepared meal'. Then the cooking instruction states to add 3 chicken breasts and other vague things. Or make it a vegetarian meal :s

    Reminds me of a curry/spice paste I once bought which only mentioned calories 'as prepared' with the preparation including meat, rice, vegetables and cooking oil. Useless, and I'm not even sure how that is even legal here in Belgium, I've never seen that on any other foods here. The curry paste was from a Dutch supermarket chain, maybe it's legal there :confused:
  • PAFC84
    PAFC84 Posts: 1,871 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    PAFC84 wrote: »
    Just curious then, so when you see the calorie/protein information for something like chicken is that the (raw) information before cooking? It does not say as consumed. I realise that people (that I know) do not eat their chicken raw.

    Most chicken and meat products are calculated raw unless specified. It would be hard to assume cooked calories of a raw chicken breast for labeling purposes without knowing how that chicken will be prepared.

    Just save yourself the confusion and use an official food database if you're using whole foods. It's much easier and you get to pick the entries raw or prepared a certain way (I usually like to log everything raw unless I'm not the one cooking).

    Cheers. I had thought that but also thought that the figures might be based on the person cooking as per the cooking instructions that are printed on the packaging, allowing for a little ‘leeway’.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,389 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    When I lived in the UK I always specifically refused to buy such products. If a company can't give me the raw calories then I'm just not buying it. Here I occasionally buy a meal box which contains veggies and other things to cook a meal. It's also the completely rubbish 'calories according to prepared meal'. Then the cooking instruction states to add 3 chicken breasts and other vague things. Or make it a vegetarian meal :s

    Reminds me of a curry/spice paste I once bought which only mentioned calories 'as prepared' with the preparation including meat, rice, vegetables and cooking oil. Useless, and I'm not even sure how that is even legal here in Belgium, I've never seen that on any other foods here. The curry paste was from a Dutch supermarket chain, maybe it's legal there :confused:

    No idea. But those kind of things drive me mad. Or those (actually rather yucky) Knorr wereldgerechten thingies. A total calorie count per 100gr for rice, marinade and sauce together, and for the fully prepared meal including unclear amounts of proteins and veggies. I'd only use half the sauce mix if I were to buy such pack to start with. Oh well.. I honestly have no idea why this is allowed, or if it actually is.

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