Accurate calorie amounts

forestfreek
forestfreek Posts: 5,770 Member
edited January 2021 in Food and Nutrition
As many of us know, the entries for foods logged into the “library” of items on MFP varies greatly with some foods. I usually bar code scan for accurate counts. But does anyone know a good site or source to find accurate counts on items that may not be able to be tracked in this way?
I’m talking mainly about meats and things like that....
Thanks 😊

Replies

  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited January 2021
    As janejellyroll mentioned, scanning =/= more accurate. All of the database entries in MFP are user maintained, including the ones that pull up when you scan. This is why the entries are inaccurate and/or vary wildly. When you scan, it just pulls an entry that was tied to that item. You should still be comparing your labels with the information in the scanned entry to make sure it's correct. Even green checkmarked entries that are supposedly "verified" are often inaccurate.


    For fruits, meats, etc...USDA is a very reliable source, although sometimes meats will have the info on the bottom of the package too. Otherwise, for most other foods there should be a nutrition facts label with a serving weights in grams.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
    First, it's all approximate to perhaps 10% even if you work really hard at it. Still, don't despair, it works!

    For packaged stuff, I usually check the MFP entry with the package info at least once. That works for a wide range of products, including meats. It's nice that you can search back through foods you've used before to use them again. The search feature on the app has been upgraded so that you can adjust which list you're looking at and how it's presented. Then you can at least be consistent.

    For everything else, it's really a guess. Restaurant meals are the hardest! If you really care, you have to limit them.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    forestfreek wrote: »
    As many of us know, the entries for foods logged into the “library” of items on MFP varies greatly with some foods. I usually bar code scan for accurate counts. But does anyone know a good site or source to find accurate counts on items that may not be able to be tracked in this way?
    I’m talking mainly about meats and things like that....
    Thanks 😊

    The bar code just saves you from directly searching the database...scanning the bar code is pulling from the same database and is no more accurate than doing a manual search. For things like meat and produce I always tagged the search with "USDA" and then verified that against the USDA website.
  • forestfreek
    forestfreek Posts: 5,770 Member
    Ok. Thanks for all the responses everyone!!!
    I get it about the scanning bar codes now....lol.
    I’ll use the link provided to the USDA. I’m Canadian but from what I understand the differences between the 2 counts are negligee.
    Thanks all👋
  • FaizanRaza
    FaizanRaza Posts: 4 Member
    If you want some reasonable info, searching the calories in big supermarket chicken for exams normally works. But you have to be careful because of added oils when cooking and it losing weight during cooking which really does inflate calories per 100g
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    With "raw" foods like produce and meat, I always default to the USDA site. I also add "USDA" to my mfp search since most of the usda database is in MFP (ex: "chicken breast USDA" or "cucumber raw usda")

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