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Show added sugars

mylotis
mylotis Posts: 1 Member
in Feature Suggestions and Ideas
I would like to see added sugars listed as a separate line from sugars so I can track how many added sugars I am consuming in a day
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Replies

  • rego1203
    rego1203 Posts: 24 Member
    edited October 2022
    I know this has been asked before BUT...we pay for the premium version and can't add added sugar to our dashboard. What a shame. I don't want to have to log in all the time to the website. This is forcing people who need to track this to look elsewhere to other apps like Chronometer...etc..I love my fitness pal but tracking the added sugar isn't easy, and I'm getting tired of paying if it doesn't work for me..may have to cancel...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited December 2023
    Problem is two fold. For one, added sugar is something that was only recently required on food labels in the US so anything in the database before 2018 won't have that information. Problem 2 is that unlike sites like Chronometer who maintain their own database, MFP's database is crowdsourced from other users and many entries are lacking micro-nutritional information because users neglect to put it in there. At this point tracking added sugar with MFP would be hit or miss in terms of actual accuracy just as it is with a lot of other micro-nutrition.
  • bover145
    bover145 Posts: 119 Member
    Agree
  • SugarThis
    SugarThis Posts: 1 Member
    I ALSO would like to see added sugars listed as a separate line from sugars so I can track how many added sugars I am consuming in a day AND PER WEEK on average. So I can improve my fitness by tracking what I eat.
    Natural sugars good. Added sugars terribly bad.
  • mamacypress
    mamacypress Posts: 7 Member
    Agreed! As the FDA is now requiring added sugars to be detailed on nutrition labels, it is frustrating not to be able to track it MFP.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    mamacypress wrote: »
    Agreed! As the FDA is now requiring added sugars to be detailed on nutrition labels, it is frustrating not to be able to track it MFP.

    The biggest issue is that even if it was tracked, it would only show on newly created entries where the user added it. It would be extremely hit or miss at this point as to whether an entry would show it given that many entries are decades old. The database is crowdsourced from other users, so MFP doesn't really have a hand in that aspect of it.

    I've heard rumors of MFP cleaning up the database and managing it rather than having it user managed, but I've heard those same rumors for years. They're now owned by a large tech investment firm out of San Francisco since 2021 I believe, so we shall see. It could be that changes are on the horizon with new ownership or that it just gets buried as one of thousands of holdings of the investment firm as a revenue stream.
  • Myfi1080
    Myfi1080 Posts: 1 Member
    edited December 2023
    Notwithstanding the "two-fold" problem. If MFP scans a label and that label indicates grams of Added Sugar (since it is now required on all labels), THEN MFP should allow that information to pass through BEYOND the individual food scanned TO the daily nutrients and the weekly summary nutrients. The vast majority of my food clearly shows the Added Sugar in the individual scan for that food, so it is simply a minor programming change to carry that number through to DAILY and WEEKLY nutrients.
  • corysiddons
    corysiddons Posts: 1 Member
    Agree with this. I think there are some barriers to entering this due to database issues but that can be resolved over time. Let’s not see perfect be the enemy of good, and try to get some element of this feature added.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    Myfi1080 wrote: »
    Notwithstanding the "two-fold" problem. If MFP scans a label and that label indicates grams of Added Sugar (since it is now required on all labels), THEN MFP should allow that information to pass through BEYOND the individual food scanned TO the daily nutrients and the weekly summary nutrients. The vast majority of my food clearly shows the Added Sugar in the individual scan for that food, so it is simply a minor programming change to carry that number through to DAILY and WEEKLY nutrients.

    MFP doesn't scan labels to enter nutrients. Users enter nutrients.

    I don't have a strong opinion about tracking added sugars, because I know (from looking at labels and ingredient lists on what I eat) that I eat below the WHO (and other mainstream entities') recommendation for added sugars being 10% or less than of total calories.

    I understand that the feature could be valuable for those who are struggling with eating too much added sugar. In that sense, making it more trackable would be useful for some. I'd note that they've started down that road, since the food database now does have a field for added sugars, it just isn't included in reports yet.

    Short run, if you don't want to eat much added sugar, take a look at your food labels and don't eat many added sugars. It's not super hard, IME. I'm not dissing you for wanting MFP to total, but this is achievable as a work-around. Personally, I ignore the sugar issue altogether, and instead focus on the good things I want to get into my eating (protein, healthy fats, lots of veggies/fruits, etc.). When I do that, added sugars fall out of my routine without much attention.
  • sarazebra9
    sarazebra9 Posts: 2 Member
    I would like this too. I go over the daily sugar from eating fruit and veg. It would be nice to separate added and natural sugars.

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