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Improved food search

rlu1028
rlu1028 Posts: 40 Member
in Feature Suggestions and Ideas
MFP likes to acknowledge the millions of items in its database, which is fine, even though a large number are no longer usable because they are so out of date. I'm sure many people become frustrated trying to discern the accuracy of items displayed from a search. MFP could make it easier by:

(1) Displaying an exact match first, then by the user's entered items that are within the normal range of a search as is currently used, then finally by the date of the item's most recent update activity (entry or update).

(2) The date of the item's most recent update activity should be added to the search result rather than having to list the nutrition information (The nutrition information should still remain available.)
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Replies

  • Jean
    Jean Posts: 991 MFP Staff
    Thanks for this feedback regarding the food database. Our team is definitely looking at ways to enhance this experience, so I will be sure to pass this along!
  • rlu1028
    rlu1028 Posts: 40 Member

    No activity

  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,970 Member

    The issue is, this is an international database. So I could amend a record for a food product - say breakfast cereal or chocolate, for the UK. I could update it with accurate UK info. But just because it shares a product brand and name with an American product does not mean it is the same, or has the same calories or nutritional values. So you could add my entry believing it to be accurate, but it would be way off. It would only work if people started naming entries with their country of origin - and that just won’t happen.

  • rlu1028
    rlu1028 Posts: 40 Member

    Clair, what you suggest is something that could be easily accomplished by the software, as a user's location is provided for in their profile. It would, however, require at least a one-time login action for every user who doesn't already have a location set.

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 7,353 Member

    People can travel too. There would need to be a a location added to the individual food item, not just based on the user's location.

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,946 Member

    Yeah the database is tough to use. Not just because of locations. It's also that the manufacturers change the recipes, change the portion sizes, change their own nutrition breakdown on the labels.

    Luckily it's easy to add new foods to the database. If you use mostly whole foods it quickly becomes manageable.

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