Nutritional Info Unreliable

jbj

I have been using Cronometer for a while and have never questioned the nutritional results. This morning I scanned a can of "KirklandSignature, Wild Alaskan Pink Salmon, Boneless & Skinless." It uses the CRDB for that item. I looked at the Vitamins and Minerals and it seemed like very few were present even though it says "15 listed nutrients" on Cronometer. Hardly any vitamins, and only a couple of minerals. I found this hard to believe and plugged in "Salmon, King or Chinook, raw, Alaska Native" and it comes back with 76 listed Nutrients from the NCCDB. It has tons of vitamins, minerals. I would assume the NCCDB is accurate.

I am stunned and a little angry by the difference. I never knew how much of a difference there is between the two databases. Now that I think of it, it makes sense, since, I believe the CRDB comes from users entering the info and nobody (including myself) can enter all of the Nutrients. Not knowing that, I have always trusted the total end-of-the-day nutritional information and have taken supplements to meet my vitamin and mineral targets. WOW, WOW, WOW.

Macros are probably accurate, however, when it comes to Vitamins and minerals, I will try to stay away from the CRDB items. If it is a bag of mixed frozen veggies that I scanned, I will question, nutritional content for all of the CRDB items.

This is quite disheartening, however, it is good to know.

jefmcg

This seems fine to me. If it's a branded product, the nutrients are going to be those listed on the label. I don't see what else it could be. If you want nutrition information beyond what the manufacturer provides, then as you have found there are plenty of other sources.

That being said, 1g of fat per 56g seems very low. I eat salmon for omega 3. I would buy a different brand.

Caveat: I am not an expert in any way, just a recent user of the app.

Hilary

@jefmcg you hit the nail on the head.

@jbj Here at Cronometer, we take pride in curating an accurate and complete database. Every user submitted food is reviewed by our curation team before being added to the database; Branded products that are submitted by users only contain the nutrition information that is contained on the nutrition facts table on the packaging or on the Brand's official website. Products that haven't been analyzed by NCCDB and USDA, have nutrition labels that only include a very basic set of nutrients mandated by law. We are not a lab and do not test foods for their nutrient content, and can only provide the information that is available to us from the manufacturer.

Learn more about how to choose the best data for your needs here: https://cronometer.com/blog/6-tips-getting-nutrition-data/
If your priority is to get the most detailed information for a food, I recommend choosing entries from the NCCDB in the Common Foods Tab. By choosing entries in the common foods tab (as described in the above link to Blog post) you can ensure that you are getting accurate information.

Learn more about our data sources here:
https://cronometer.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018239472-Data-Sources

If you do find a mistake, please let us know. Learn how to report an issue here:

https://cronometer.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020982412
https://cronometer.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021237511

AndrewBrown

NCCDB should change their name.

Same acronym as the Federal National Consumer Complaint Database.