Accuracy of the Nutritional Info?

valentbl
valentbl Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello! I just joined yesterday and have relied on the foods that are already in the system for my tracking. I wondered what the accuracy of these are and your experience if you have double checked against the labels, websites, etc? Thank you!

Replies

  • fitnessgoddess17
    fitnessgoddess17 Posts: 125 Member
    Always double check, most are good est if you don't want to bother but no they are not all accurate
  • kag1526
    kag1526 Posts: 210 Member
    I have found all the package ones to be good. The ones that are less reliable are ones like meat or veggies where different entries for the same thing has different nutrional info. I figure its a good estimate though and just pick one.
  • tiffanyvc
    tiffanyvc Posts: 99
    Most are pretty accurate. I run into problems when I don't know a specific brand of what I'm eating - like if I get something at work - and have to estimate what I'm eating. I've found that when I estimate, I'm usually waaaay off. It's best to have a good idea of what you're eating, and if you don't know, estimate high.
  • SabrinaG1986
    SabrinaG1986 Posts: 135 Member
    The ones I have double checked have been right so I don't bother any more.
  • boelyn
    boelyn Posts: 90 Member
    I double checked for the first few days and they all seemed accurate. You will see some in there that have people's name by them, that is their specific recipe

    Welcome, I'ss send you a friend invite and will try and support as much as possible

    B
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    7. FOOD DATABASE AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

    MyFitnessPal’s food database contains a combination of nutritional information entered directly by MyFitnessPal and nutritional information entered by MyFitnessPal members (“Food Database”). Any MyFitnessPal member can contribute nutritional information to the Food Database, as well as edit existing nutritional information. Please be advised that nutritional information found in MyFitnessPal’s Food Database has not been reviewed by persons with the expertise required to provide You with complete, accurate, or reliable information. MYFITNESSPAL DOES NOT (I) GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF ANY NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION IN THE FOOD DATABASE; OR (II) ADOPT, ENDORSE OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY SUCH NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL MYFITNESSPAL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM YOUR RELIANCE ON NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information in the Food Database is accurate, complete and useful.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/terms_of_use
  • jswayze67
    jswayze67 Posts: 23 Member
    Most of them are pretty good but I have amended a few, I tend to check if possible but once I know which are accurate I use my "recent" food after that so I ensure I only use the ones I know to be accurate.
  • CheleLynn44
    CheleLynn44 Posts: 339 Member
    I have found most to be accurate. But I like using the scan option from the app. I also try whenever possible to look up nutritional info for restaurants online to make sure I'm logging correctly.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    I always double check, and if I find a discrepancy I correct it and then confirm it, every little helps :happy:
  • bcampbell54
    bcampbell54 Posts: 932 Member
    The open nature of the database requires that you check.
    Even when a product has multiple confirmations, it's good to spot check.
    Some of the items may have changed formulations, or serving sizes, so it's a good idea to e aware.
    Of course, it's the very open nature that makes this database so huge and awesome!
  • SixCatFaerie
    SixCatFaerie Posts: 690 Member
    7. FOOD DATABASE AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

    MyFitnessPal’s food database contains a combination of nutritional information entered directly by MyFitnessPal and nutritional information entered by MyFitnessPal members (“Food Database”). Any MyFitnessPal member can contribute nutritional information to the Food Database, as well as edit existing nutritional information. Please be advised that nutritional information found in MyFitnessPal’s Food Database has not been reviewed by persons with the expertise required to provide You with complete, accurate, or reliable information. MYFITNESSPAL DOES NOT (I) GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF ANY NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION IN THE FOOD DATABASE; OR (II) ADOPT, ENDORSE OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY SUCH NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL MYFITNESSPAL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM YOUR RELIANCE ON NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information in the Food Database is accurate, complete and useful.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/terms_of_use

    ^^^ This!

    Please check to make sure everything is accurate, if anything, do it for your body. It will thank you later!
  • crzyone
    crzyone Posts: 872 Member
    Remember that the post without the asterisk is the one MFP put in the database. The others have been put in by members and anyone can put anything in.
  • Kiterina
    Kiterina Posts: 1
    I notice many issues with raw ingredients, especially since I'm trying to watch carb intake. One quick check you can do to see if there's even a chance that the data is accurate is to add up the calories from fat, carbs and protein and see if it matches the total calories listed.

    Take the amount of carbs (grams) minus insoluble fiber and the amount of protein (grams) and add them together. Multiply this number by 4. Multiply the amount of fat by 9 and add both sums.

    (gs Carbs + gs Protein) x 4 (cal/gram) + (gs Fat) x 9 (cal/gram) ~= Total Calories.

    I believe this is only accurate for nonalcoholic items. Though I rarely find detailed calorie information for beverages containing alcohol.

    Good Example: Small Whole Weather Tortilla High Fiber/Low Carb (La Tortilla Factory)
    Fat = 4g, Carb = 20g-14g, Protein = 10g.
    (20g-14g+10g)x4 + 4g x 9 = 100. Matches!
    This one is accurate if all the fiber is actually insoluble.

    Bad Example: Steak Salad, Nothing But Noodles
    Fat = 19g, Carb = 7g-2g, Protein = 11g.
    (7g-2g+11g)x4 + 19g x 9 = 235. But nutrition guide on the site says 135 calories. Big Red Flag!!! Must be a typo, but we all should be aware that nutrition guides at restaurant sites aren't without error.

    Also, the equation working out isn't necessarily accurate either. It just means that there is internal consistency. However, if the numbers don't add up you know there was something different going on.

    I personally wish that MyFitnessPal had an internal checker. It wouldn't be too difficult to program this into the site when adding a new item. Making it equal out might be too restrictive (i.e. if there is something funny going on with the fiber), but some sort of warning would make people think twice before adding something that is blatantly inaccurate.

    We cook a lot, so we often run into issues where the raw information is not helpful or there are too many different ones to choose from.

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