Brown Rice Confusion

cianag
cianag Posts: 29 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok. What am I missing here? I recently added brown rice to my diet because of the handy Birds Eye Steamfresh bags in the frozen section. When I logged it, I just looked it up on the MFP food list and found 1 cup equals 150 calories. There are multiple entries at 150 calories per cup, and some even say Birds Eye. Then I look on my package just now, and 1 cup is 333 calories (250 calories for .75 cups). The ingredients list only brown rice and water. Google says 215 calories in 1 cup of cooked brown rice (fat secret). Obviously, I'm going with the number on my product and adjusting my intake, but how are these foods verified as correct on MFP? This could really mess somebody up.

Replies

  • dblair27
    dblair27 Posts: 64 Member
    I would be careful adding rice and other grains without verifying them myself. There will be discrepancies if available entries aren't specifying dry or cooked, or whether there are added ingredients in someone's recipe or something, etc. Always better to scan or enter yourself.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    Also sometimes the food manufacturers often change the product, so what was offered 2 years ago might be different than the product you buy at the exact same store, product line, same packaging look, etc. (This can be a big problem with people with severe allergies, because what was safe last month might now have different ingredients without any warning whatsoever!)

    MFP sometimes have old entries, or entries from a different country (which again, the same food product might be different), and yes, inaccuracies.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    Generally with brown rice, one quarter cup uncooked (45g) is a serving for about 150 calories.

    When it is cooked, it cooks up to a little over a cup or about 125g (plus or minus a few grams either way.)

    If your product gives you the serving size and whether or not that means, "Prepared," then use that.

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    According to the USDA (which is what I would trust, although I'd defer to package information since the manufacturer should have tested its own product specifically), one cup of brown rice, medium grain, cooked, is about 218 cal, and one cup of brown rice, long grain, cooked is about 250 cal. One cup of brown rice, long grain, raw is about 367 cal, and one cup of medium grain, raw is about 362 cal.

    There are lots of bad entries on MFP, and verified just means all the fields are filled in, so you should double check anything with your package or the USDA.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    cianag wrote: »
    Ok. What am I missing here? I recently added brown rice to my diet because of the handy Birds Eye Steamfresh bags in the frozen section. When I logged it, I just looked it up on the MFP food list and found 1 cup equals 150 calories. There are multiple entries at 150 calories per cup, and some even say Birds Eye. Then I look on my package just now, and 1 cup is 333 calories (250 calories for .75 cups). The ingredients list only brown rice and water. Google says 215 calories in 1 cup of cooked brown rice (fat secret). Obviously, I'm going with the number on my product and adjusting my intake, but how are these foods verified as correct on MFP? This could really mess somebody up.

    I would wager that the 333 calories for 1 cup listed on the label is for uncooked as that is typical for most things unless otherwise specified. 1 cup uncooked is going to make a lot more than 1 cup of cooked rice. 1 cup of cooked brown rice isn't going to be 333 calories. Per the USDA website, 1 cup (202g) of cooked brown rice is about 250 calories.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    edited January 2020
    I would use grams, not cups. 😁
  • Nekcarccmshan510
    Nekcarccmshan510 Posts: 3 Member
    Apologies for digging up and old thread, but I'm confused by this too and searched and found this thread. Does anyone know the answer or why?

    If you look up just basic home cooked brown rice the most consistent calorie number is about 140 calories for 125grams of cooked rice

    If you search for "Coles Brown Rice Cup" or scan the packet if you have one which I've done (or read the packet) its 274 calories for 125 grams.

    What am I missing? Why is the minute rice almost double the calories when the ingredients are just rice? (ie Not the versions with flavours, spices or other ingredients)

    Note: I'm in Australia and "Coles brand brown rice cups" are basically minute rice you heat up in the microwave for 40 seconds and they are in individual plasitic containers with a weight of 125grams each.
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    @Nekcarccmshan510 - are those brown rice cups filled with cooked brown rice, or do you add water? 125g of dry rice, brown or otherwise, will have significantly more calories than 125g of cooked rice.
  • Nekcarccmshan510
    Nekcarccmshan510 Posts: 3 Member
    edited October 2021
    hey - theyre cooked. you don't add water or anything.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,272 Member
    I know those cups or sachets- they have built in moisture, you just microwave them as is basically to heat them up.
  • Nekcarccmshan510
    Nekcarccmshan510 Posts: 3 Member
    yeah thats them. Looking at the nutritional break down of both they are both basically just carbs. In the home cooked brown rice the "Total Carbs" is 30g (per 125g of rice) and for the Microwave version Total Carbs = 60g per 125g of cooked rice? Fat is about 2g's each?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    Nekarccmsh...sounds like the labels are just mis-printed.
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,330 Member
    Check the ingredients... Some have oil in them.. hense higher calories
  • perryc05
    perryc05 Posts: 226 Member
    edited November 2021
    I just follow this guide (mainly USDA):
    https://st-tech.com/food/calorie-counter/flour-noodles-pasta-rice-spaghetti

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