Question about scanning bar codes

Funnyguyla
Funnyguyla Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey Everyone,
I'm new to the group. I've begun using the scanner on the app to scan the bar codes of household food items that I eat regularly and notice the the calorie count on the app is often about 10 calories higher than it says on the packaging. In one case it's off by 30. Sometimes even off by 30 calories. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it intentional or is the app getting it's information from a different source than the manufacturer?

Replies

  • perryc05
    perryc05 Posts: 228 Member
    It happens sometimes. There is some information here about inaccurate listings in the database and what you can do to amend them:
    https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032622691-Some-food-information-in-the-database-is-inaccurate-Can-I-edit-it-
  • Funnyguyla
    Funnyguyla Posts: 2 Member
    Okay thanks!
  • gpanda103
    gpanda103 Posts: 189 Member
    Always go by the package. Sometimes brands will change their recipe, and that might alter the macros. They don’t need to notify anyone that it has changed either. It is annoying, but the package is always the most relevant information
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,148 Member
    Funnyguyla wrote: »
    Hey Everyone,
    I'm new to the group. I've begun using the scanner on the app to scan the bar codes of household food items that I eat regularly and notice the the calorie count on the app is often about 10 calories higher than it says on the packaging. In one case it's off by 30. Sometimes even off by 30 calories. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it intentional or is the app getting it's information from a different source than the manufacturer?

    To answer the bolded specifically right here in your thread: In general, the app is not getting the information from the manufacturer . . . like not ever, pretty much.

    Nearly all of the MFP food database is crowd sourced, i.e., entered by regular MFP users like you or me. Some of them are meticulous and accurate, some aren't. Some of the entries are old (out of date, maybe) or from another country, as someone else mentioned.

    There's literally no reason to believe a bar-coded entry is any more accurate than any other (non-bar-coded) entry. It just means that some regular MFP used the bar code when they created that food in the database.

    In rare, rare cases, some food producer gets an account to enter foods here. Super, super rare. A small fraction of the database is entries that MFP imported from the USDA food database when MFP was first getting started. Everything else is user entered. If you care about accuracy/precision, sheck things the first time you use them, make sure they get into your recent/frequent food list accurately.

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