Calories

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alfonsina_staub
alfonsina_staub Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
There are so many different calorie options for the same food search how do you know what’s accurate? I’m assuming the ones with the little green mark next to them? And if so why are other users allowed to post inaccurate calorie information?

Replies

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,453 Member
    edited July 2022
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    All MFP entries are crowdsourced. Some are honest entry errors, but I’m convinced others are sheerly wishful thinking. I’d hate to think that someone is deliberately skewing their numbers after going through the trouble of recording in the first place, but nothing surprises me in the endeavors of weight loss anymore.

    Basically you have to use your common sense. If you see a Dunkin Doughnut listed at 45 calories, do you really think that’s accurate?

    You’ll also find entries for recipes or meals where some users enter a gram as a serving and then they’ll use 200 (or whatever they weighed it out as) when entering it in their diary. That’s a personal preference for some users.

    I usually enter a meal as 1 serving, and then calculate how many servings after I’ve fished it up and packed the leftovers. For example, cheese and chicken ravioli casserole tomorrow made 16 servings, so well each get .125 of the meal.

    I just Google the item and look for a reasonable middle-of-the-range estimate and choose an item from thr just, based on best guess.

    Or Google “celery usda nutrition” and it will pull up the older (and MUCH easier to understand) USDA listing, then look for the equivalent or the food number in MFP.

    Green checks are helpful but not always accurate. Often they’re based on products that have been reformulated since they got their green check. My cottage cheese is one such. I use the un-checked listing because it’s more accurate.

    A lot of it is down to educated guessing. Is it perfect? Nope. But it’s way better than the unfettered eating I used to indulge in.
  • limzzz
    limzzz Posts: 21 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    All MFP entries are crowdsourced. Some are honest entry errors, but I’m convinced others are sheerly wishful thinking. I’d hate to think that someone is deliberately skewing their numbers after going through the trouble of recording in the first place, but nothing surprises me in the endeavors of weight loss anymore.

    Basically you have to use your common sense. If you see a Dunkin Doughnut listed at 45 calories, do you really think that’s accurate?

    You’ll also find entries for recipes or meals where some users enter a gram as a serving and then they’ll use 200 (or whatever they weighed it out as) when entering it in their diary. That’s a personal preference for some users.

    I usually enter a meal as 1 serving, and then calculate how many servings after I’ve fished it up and packed the leftovers. For example, cheese and chicken ravioli casserole tomorrow made 16 servings, so well each get .125 of the meal.

    I just Google the item and look for a reasonable middle-of-the-range estimate and choose an item from thr just, based on best guess.

    Or Google “celery usda nutrition” and it will pull up the older (and MUCH easier to understand) USDA listing, then look for the equivalent or the food number in MFP.

    Green checks are helpful but not always accurate. Often they’re based on products that have been reformulated since they got their green check. My cottage cheese is one such. I use the un-checked listing because it’s more accurate.

    A lot of it is down to educated guessing. Is it perfect? Nope. But it’s way better than the unfettered eating I used to indulge in.

    I do the same exact thing! Making one big meal as one serving then portioning it out evenly. So when I add it to MFP I use .20 if there is 5 actual meals I can make from it. So much easier in my opinion.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    Some items have various options because they are not all the same. You may have chicken breast w/ skin or without skin. Maybe trimmed of most of the fat or not trimmed. Depending on things like that, the calories per gram or ounce will vary.

    When it comes to packaged products, items sometimes change. The manufacturer may change the ingredients somewhat. Or the 'serving size'. I've seen Kraft cheese singles that are 50 calories, 50 calories, 70 calories according to the package. I don't know what is different about them, so I go w/ what is on the package that I bought that time. Just an example.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    alfonsina_staub wrote: »
    There are so many different calorie options for the same food search how do you know what’s accurate? I’m assuming the ones with the little green mark next to them? And if so why are other users allowed to post inaccurate calorie information?

    The entire database is crowdsourced. The checkmarks don't necessarily mean they are correct either, just that another user checked as verified. When I logged I vetted all of my entries with either the packaging or the USDA website or a google search. You also need to do a search for individual items, not meals...ie don't pick "scrambled eggs" or "Lasagna" as those are going to be some other users recipe and you don't know what all went into it.

    For the most part I found most individual items to be correct within an acceptable margin. Some of those variances may be attributable to a company changing it's labeling or the information may be input from someone in another country where the food label is different, etc. It's pretty easy to spot the outlandish ones. Also consider that none of this is an exact science either.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,056 Member
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    Remember, the accuracy of your logging is going to depend just as heavily on accurate measurement as well. Did you measure out 1/4 cup of something, or did you eyeball it as being "close enough?"
  • MeghanEMarsh
    MeghanEMarsh Posts: 1 Member
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    Because of this issue, I have been adding at least half (or more) of the foods I am eating myself, under my foods. It's not ideal, especially since I am paying for the app, but if you want something done right.....do it yourself!!
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    All MFP entries are crowdsourced. Some are honest entry errors, but I’m convinced others are sheerly wishful thinking. I’d hate to think that someone is deliberately skewing their numbers after going through the trouble of recording in the first place, but nothing surprises me in the endeavors of weight loss anymore.

    Basically you have to use your common sense. If you see a Dunkin Doughnut listed at 45 calories, do you really think that’s accurate?

    You’ll also find entries for recipes or meals where some users enter a gram as a serving and then they’ll use 200 (or whatever they weighed it out as) when entering it in their diary. That’s a personal preference for some users.

    I usually enter a meal as 1 serving, and then calculate how many servings after I’ve fished it up and packed the leftovers. For example, cheese and chicken ravioli casserole tomorrow made 16 servings, so well each get .125 of the meal.

    I just Google the item and look for a reasonable middle-of-the-range estimate and choose an item from thr just, based on best guess.

    Or Google “celery usda nutrition” and it will pull up the older (and MUCH easier to understand) USDA listing, then look for the equivalent or the food number in MFP.

    Green checks are helpful but not always accurate. Often they’re based on products that have been reformulated since they got their green check. My cottage cheese is one such. I use the un-checked listing because it’s more accurate.

    A lot of it is down to educated guessing. Is it perfect? Nope. But it’s way better than the unfettered eating I used to indulge in.

    And sometimes they're just plain wrong and MFP doesn't fix them even though you go to the trouble of following the process to report it and give them the right info:

    ci8cxowzdi9y.png


    Trust me, this extra tasty cheese is NOT cereal, is not 160 cals a cup, does not have 34g of carbs and certainly doesn't have only 2g fat *eyeroll*.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,453 Member
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    I’m just interested in what makes it extra tasty versus not? And how does that affect sales of their non-extra tasty, somewhat sub-par cheese?
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
    edited September 2022
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    I’m just interested in what makes it extra tasty versus not? And how does that affect sales of their non-extra tasty, somewhat sub-par cheese?

    LOL it's aged longer, so it's got a stronger, bitier flavour. Regular Tasty cheese is just standard cheddar.

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