When will MFP add ability to track Added Sugars?

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bobby2478
bobby2478 Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
In the US, most food labels now already include added sugars, so you have Total Sugars and Added Sugars is listed separately. So this data is already out there on food labels, MFP however doesn't track this in their DB apparently (or if they do they don't include it in macronutrient breakdown).

There is a lot of focus on drastically reducing added sugar specifically and is a core component if you are seriously looking to lose weight or eat healthy or reduce risk of diabetes.

The purpose of this post isn't to get into a whole discussion about people's opinions on sugars vs added sugars, so please don't turn it into a huge debate regarding the merits of added sugar recommendations.

I only have one simple question for this thread: When will MFP include Added Sugars in their database and allow people to count the total added sugar intake (obviously if foods you are logging include this detail)? Similarly, when will they allow you to create a goal to limit your total added sugar intake? WHO recommends limit to a max of 50g per day, while a further reduction to 25g per day would have substantial benefits. Again, please don't turn this into a debate on the merits of these recommendations.

When you are logging all of your food in MFP already, and many of these foods already break down added sugar content, it would make sense for MFP to automatically count the amount of added sugars you've consumed each day instead of forcing you to track that on your own.

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Nobody here knows when or if MFP plans to add the ability to track added sugar or allow us to create a goal for that.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,293 Member
    edited January 2021
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    It's in the database structure as seen via the phone app already (at least the Android app). That implies to me that it's planned. I'm not sure whether you can edit it through the phone app or not - I don't remember trying, just noticed that the data field was present on foods.

    Since MFP has made limited enhancements to its web version, I'd espect the capability to show up first in the apps, I dunno about the web, if ever.

    It will take approximately infinity for the database to be populated with data in that field (crowd-sourced data, probably not required on labels in all non-US countries, etc.). However, obviously we can each edit our own favorite/recent foods to put it in if we know it. Maybe can now, in the app - if you care, maybe try it?

    Personally, I don't care enough to make the effort of trying to edit it, even as an experiment. I think it's way more useful to get necessary/desirable nutrients *into* my eating, so I focus there rather than on rooting *out* reportedly "bad things". That tends to limit added sugar automatically when targeting a sensible calorie goal, anyway.

    I eat vanishingly little added sugar, even if I count the blackstrap molasses I put in my oatmeal daily to *improve* my nutrition (also tastes nice, of course). It's only about 12g anyway.

    But that's the debate you didn't want, I guess. 😉

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