Double check caloriew

HollieJPetty
HollieJPetty Posts: 1 Member
edited July 2023 in Food and Nutrition
I don't know what happened to this app. Maybe too many hands in the cookie jar, but a lot of the numbers in this app are wrong. A lot of the calories are wrong! Double check the item with the label on the box Make sure it matches. I had to go through yesterday and almost 50% of the items in my recipe had the wrong calories! And it was erring on the side of being way too high. One thing estimated a thousand calories and it was only 300 for the entire box! It's just the calories for one serving multiplied by the servings in one box. It was wrong by 3xs! I have reached out to MyFitnessPal and asked for an audit, but they haven't responded. It's up to you to make sure that their information is correct!
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Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,892 Member
    The food databse is crowdsourced, so yes: definitely up to each user to make sure they're using correct/up-to-date database entries.
    An audit by MFP is unlikely, that would be a mammoth task, also taking into account that there are foods from around the world.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,248 Member
    It's a problem when they crowdsource data. It leads to people choosing the lowest calorie amount listed on their entries then wondering why they aren't losing in a "deficit".
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,638 Member
    Loosely, calorie counting apps have 3 general design choices available:

    1. They can crowd-source the food database, and share those results with all. This tends to result in a huge database in which users will be able to find most foods already entered (correctly, if the user selects carefully). It also results in a lot of dumb stuff in between the accurate entries, which is frustrating, especially for new users.

    2. They can have a food database tightly curated by staff, no user entries. This will tend to result in a smaller database lacking many of the foods that people want to eat/count.

    3. They can curate the database, or not offer a general-access food database, but let users enter their own foods in a private personal-foods area. This lets people count a wider range of foods, but they'll need to do more data entry themselves.

    MFP chose #1. Other apps may do it other ways. An individual user can simulate option #3 here if they want to.

    Personally, I like the MFP way. If you don't, there may be better apps out there for your tastes. There are methods for identifying the more accurate entries more quickly, but that's a whole other post.

    Best wishes!
  • TanyaHooton
    TanyaHooton Posts: 249 Member
    Yeah, I've been on MFP on and off for 10 years. This has always been an issue. I finally realized that I could only rely on the calculator, not the crowdsourcing, for the most part. In short, I only use 1) my recipes which are calculated mathematically for my by MFP, 2) the food labels on packages, and 3) restaurant menu estimated calories. Sometimes you just can't stick to those, so the crowdsourcing can be helpful, but after so many years watching calories, I can usually estimate how many calories that chocolate chip muffin really has, even if the local coffee shop has no idea and MFP crowdsourcing thinks its just 150.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,791 Member
    TanyaHooton wrote: »
    Yeah, I've been on MFP on and off for 10 years. This has always been an issue. I finally realized that I could only rely on the calculator, not the crowdsourcing, for the most part. In short, I only use 1) my recipes which are calculated mathematically for my by MFP, 2) the food labels on packages, and 3) restaurant menu estimated calories. Sometimes you just can't stick to those, so the crowdsourcing can be helpful, but after so many years watching calories, I can usually estimate how many calories that chocolate chip muffin really has, even if the local coffee shop has no idea and MFP crowdsourcing thinks its just 150.

    This is a good rule to go by. I don't trust the MFP food entries... I double check. I started calorie counting as a teen back before online food logs were a thing... which I think is a good thing because it kind of gave me a gut feeling for what a given food "ought" to be. So I can tell if it feels off and I won't use that entry.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    Next to a crowd-sourced database and wrong entries there are also two other reasons: Old entries while formulas for food items might have changed, and this is a worldwide website. Formular of food can differ from country to country.
  • FairryDust
    FairryDust Posts: 8 Member
    I've been off and on MFP for years. I started using the tool again last month and have found this frustrating as well. Perhaps the most frustrating part for me is users can no longer edit database entries. I'm sure there's a legitimate reason for this, but the downside is the database is that much more flooded with up-to-date entries alongside outdated or incomplete entries.

    I check the nutritional facts for everything I log. I scroll for correct number of calories and look at the details. I give feedback on whether correct or not. I don't think the "no" is doing much good, but I figure a recent confirmation might be helpful for others.

    You're not alone in the frustration, and the struggle is time consuming at times.

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