Beware - Errors in database info - Doubdiary!

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  • Krazy_Kat
    Krazy_Kat Posts: 212
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    I do all my own food.
  • toysbigkid
    toysbigkid Posts: 545 Member
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    bump
  • chelledawg14
    chelledawg14 Posts: 509 Member
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    I often wonder WHY there are so many entries for the same thing and I think it's because the search feature in MFP really needs updated like a "normal" search engine. If you make one mistake when typing, it won't find your entry - it should be smart enough to recognize similar words. It's like MFP is using search engines from the 1990's.

    I've found the scanner often times has different nutritional information on the package so I WILL add a new one to reflect the food I'm holding in my hand at the time. I can't remember where I heard it from, but I did hear that it depends on where the food is packaged. If you try to enter "Strawberry - fresh, raw" - you'll find way too many options - then do a search for "generic strawberries" and you get different options but they're all the same thing! It's a pain in the butt, but I just do a lot of comparisons and I often go to other sites to confirm which selection comes closes to an MFP item already listed.
  • serenity216
    serenity216 Posts: 512 Member
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    Android does have this feature.
    The scanner feature is for iphone. You can use your phone to scan the bar code of the food item and the nutritional info is then put into mfp. The blackberry app doesn't have this, I am not sure about the android app.
  • BigenFluffy
    BigenFluffy Posts: 57 Member
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    I wonder at what point MFP takes it out of the database. It would be nice to click a "duplicate" button. I found a string cheese that had the right calories and fat, but when I went back and looked, it added 166 grams of protien to my day.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    Good Morning.

    There are other reasons the data base can be 'wrong'. MFP is available pretty much around the world.

    I have found that when I buy products from UK, the sodium is a tenth of the US product. Gravy packet for example. I will not use them because of the sodium,but found a wonderful brown gravy from UK that has very little sodium in it.

    Also the portions can be very different from US to other countries, or even states!

    The site is has a food base entered by the owner, then added to by the members. This helps keep it free! (woot!)

    When I am in full on lose mode, I never eat a food where I have not read the label. When I sit down to log, I know pretty much the contents.

    Great job everyone!!!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    I wonder at what point MFP takes it out of the database. It would be nice to click a "duplicate" button. I found a string cheese that had the right calories and fat, but when I went back and looked, it added 166 grams of protien to my day.

    and thanks for the ticker pic, I am going to go work out because that song is stuck in my head :laugh:
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    Things to remember:

    1. MFP Created Entries are the ones with NO STAR before them. Like fresh veggies and raw meats...stuff that doesn't come off a package. Those also come with multiple serving size options in cups, grams, ounces, etc, so they're perfect for whatever type of measuring you use. EVERYTHING with a star is user-entered.

    2. User entered entries can be correct for THEIR package but not yours. I have had things months later that change by 20 calories or so. Companies change recipes and labels. So they may still have the old one and you have the new one or vice versa.

    3. Canada, England, Australia, US...we ALL have SOME common foods with COMPLETELY different nutritional content. So when you think "they should delete this one, it's off by 30 calories!", someone across the world can be thinking the same thing about the one YOU just entered.

    4. If you create a new food and list something as .5 gram it rounds it up to 1. That is MFP's doing, not the user. It sucks. I've learned to ignore it over the last 2 years.

    5. Long story short, we should each worry about making sure OUR OWN diaries are as accurate as we can get them, while ignoring the things we THINK are wrong, because just because they are wrong to you does not mean they are wrong for everyone.

    (not meant to be read as "mean" or anything, just telling it like it is! Some people may not have realized some of these things.)
  • sherry9300
    sherry9300 Posts: 149 Member
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    Love the scanner feature and I use it all the time, but make sure you look at it to see if it's correct. Just yesterday I scanned in Blue Bell Red Velvet Cake ice cream and it listed Ultimate Neapolitan in my diary with that product's nutrtional value. I have also had it list an entirely different brand altogether or the correct item and wrong nutritional value.

    That being said, I find it to be accurate about 95% of the time.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    Good Morning.

    There are other reasons the data base can be 'wrong'. MFP is available pretty much around the world.

    I have found that when I buy products from UK, the sodium is a tenth of the US product. Gravy packet for example. I will not use them because of the sodium,but found a wonderful brown gravy from UK that has very little sodium in it.

    We measure sodium in grams in the UK, while the US, and therefore mfp, measure in MILIgrams. Therefore you need to multiply by 1000 before entering it into the database, but many Brits forget to. I just accept that my sodium numbers are nearly always wrong :P
  • beachloe
    beachloe Posts: 51 Member
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    I learned that early on myself. Whenever I am logging, I try to find entries that have several confirmations, or just check it against the nutrition label myself. Also, any entry with an * is from a member, not MFP so I try to avoid those if possible.
  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,659 Member
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    bump, for sure !
  • BigenFluffy
    BigenFluffy Posts: 57 Member
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    I just found a prime example of the rounding up issue.

    Search for Quacker Chewy Oatmeal Raisin bar, the 90 calorie one.

    It's in the database 6 times.

    When you choose it and click show nutritional info, it shows 1.5 gms of fat...which is correct according to the package.

    When you add it to the diary, it rounds it up to 2.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    I just found a prime example of the rounding up issue.

    Search for Quacker Chewy Oatmeal Raisin bar, the 90 calorie one.

    It's in the database 6 times.

    When you choose it and click show nutritional info, it shows 1.5 gms of fat...which is correct according to the package.

    When you add it to the diary, it rounds it up to 2.

    That's just how MFP works....

    The issue *I* have is that QUACKER is actually in there twice, when it's actually QUAKER. Regional calorie content variations are acceptable, misspellings of brand names are INFURIATING.
    THOSE are the ones that need to be deleted.
  • mfp_1
    mfp_1 Posts: 516 Member
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    As you may know, you can't delete entries. But you can put warnings in the title.
  • Florawanda
    Florawanda Posts: 283 Member
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    I don't have a phone app, so do it all on the laptop... and usually when I am entering something new, check the nutritional info after selecting the one that seems nearest... but if it doesn't show any eg sugars, I try another similar one, or take it off the pack. For instance I always have orange juice at lunchtime, but the one I had entered didn't have any sugars on it... and a kind MFPal pointed this out, as I am trying to reduce my sugar intake. The pack I was using had no nutritional information on, and I have emailed Lidl to request this. Meanwhile I am using another supermarket pack AND also checking how many mls I have in my glass.

    I do find sometimes that a particular food which was first submitted by an MFPer several months ago, has inaccuracies - and assume that this may be because the supermarket is constantly refining their recipes to be healthier! I then use the edit function to correct these.

    But at the end of the day, I don't get too obsessive about it, just as I don't treat the exercise calories listed as accurate, and usually only log about half the time I actually spend on an exercise.

    Good luck to everyone learning new habits of healthy eating and exercising...
  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
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    I am pretty easy going when it comes to logging my foods. I just pick the closest option with the correct calorie count even if the macros are slightly off. I do realize that serving sizes will be different since I am in Canada. If a US serving is eight crackers and I my package says 10, I will just log my serving as 1.25 and the calorie count usually comes pretty close to my package. I don't stress over the little things too much.
    Things to remember:

    1. MFP Created Entries are the ones with NO STAR before them. Like fresh veggies and raw meats...stuff that doesn't come off a package. Those also come with multiple serving size options in cups, grams, ounces, etc, so they're perfect for whatever type of measuring you use. EVERYTHING with a star is user-entered.

    Thanks :) I never realized what the star meant. I will look for the generic items without a star when I can.
  • ProjectTae
    ProjectTae Posts: 461 Member
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    I always check, 80% of entries are put in by users, and many similar products have different nutritional information.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Is there a particular reason why isn't the bar code option isn't available for the pc?

    If all users could work with bar codes there would be fewer errors and fewer duplicates.
    Because most people don't have a scanner attached to their PC?
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    when you go to add on your cell phone on the right side of the search bar there is a bar code app touch that then hold the bar code up like you going to take a pic of it very easy i bar code everything usually

    Wish the scanner would recognize stuff outside of the States. I almost always have to "create" a new food. Sooooo annoyingggg. I would barcode my Life if I could.
    No wait, maybe I wouldn't ; )

    I find that the bar code recognises most Aussie products - sometimes they come up as a different brand, but if it is the same food (ie. chocolate covered strawberries from Woolies vs another company) I'll usually use that info rather than search for a separate entry. The things that it doesn't usually get are supermarket packaged foods like meat and chicken.

    I think we just have to live with the errors (I mean, correct them when possible) because this database is HUGE, it's international and it's free to use. I can trade off the disadvantages - duplicates and errors for that.
    It does also get easier with time and practice - you learn some tricks (like looking for products with no *, and adding the word "raw" to fruit and veggies to find the ingredient rather than a product) and the products you use a lot are saved in your recent and frequent lists.

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