mL option when manually entering foods

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3/4/13 2:22 P

It is confusing for me when I find the food with the same brand measurement, etc., BUT it shows a whole different caloric value...

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3/4/13 11:59 A

Yes, we do, but we also use oz for weight measurement and oz for volume measurement, which can be very confusing. For instance, the label on my Coffeemate reads: Serving Size//tamano por /Racion: 1 tbsp/cucharada (15mL). I dislike having to guess or to have to resort to measuring spoons for so many things. I have switched over to gram measurements for most things as it seems to be easier to work with (especially with recipes), but things that are listed as volume measurements still throw me. I've taken to weighing my portions of liquids in order to get around that. Is there anything wrong with that?

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10/17/12 5:16 P

Thanks for the tip. I'll look for it.

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10/17/12 3:24 P

What I have started doing is putting in values for mls as grams. So for me 100g. is the same as 100mls. I also try to put in the title box that 100mls is a serving so it makes it clearer that even though it comes up as grams that I am using it as a calculation for mls.

To Cathwren:
There is a calculator on Spark that will convert grams to ounces. You will find it as "serving size calculator" under "add this food to favourites" sentence on your food tracking box that comes up when using your favourites or looking for a food. Hope this helps.

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10/17/12 2:48 P

I have a similar but opposite concern. Many of the items I've seen are only available as grams. I'd like to see ounces also as an option.

Hmm, I just thought of something. Maybe the ones only listing grams were added by people in metric-centered countries.

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9/23/12 9:03 P

" In fact the only volumes available when entering foods manually are cups, tbsp & tsp - not very precise!"

?? not precise??
They is just as precise as any other measurement.

This IS an American site, and we use cups, table spoons and teaspoons every day.

Posts: 126
9/20/12 12:25 P

I,too, would like to see millilitres and also fluid ounces on the tracker. It would be much clearer to me exactly how much I was consuming. Cups, teaspoons etc. means nothing to me at all and I don't find the converter really of much help when trying to convert from mls to other options that are available.

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6/29/12 10:17 A

I'm glad to find I'm not the only one wanting the mL option. In fact the only volumes available when entering foods manually are cups, tbsp & tsp - not very precise!

Please, SparkPeople, put this right quickly.

Posts: 33,301
6/22/12 4:45 P

I use grams instead of mls. It's correct for water, and I realise it's not for some other liquids, but when I see "591g" of a fluid in my tracker, I know that's 591mls.

Posts: 26,898
6/20/12 10:45 P

Thanks for the feedback, I'll pass it along!

Coach Denise

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6/20/12 12:15 P

Like a lot of non-Americans, I end up entering most of my foods manually off the labels since there are slight regional differences. One gap I've noticed is in the options for choosing serving sizes for volume. This mostly applies to drinks (a standard bottled drink is usually 591 mL), but also to canned items and other foods that are measured by volume instead of weight. At this time, the only serving options available for volume are cups, tbsp and tsp. Volume in metric countries is usually labeled in mililtres or litres, and the conversion to fluid ounces or cups/tbsp/tsp is especially cumbersome.

Since 'grams' are offered as an option for measurement when manually entering foods, it would make sense to make metric volume measurements available as well. Especially since many of the people who make use of the manual entry option come from metric countries and use it specifically because the standard listings are not in metric.

One other side issue with this: to get around the lack of a mL option, I often enter the number of mL as servings (so a standard bottled drink would be listed as 591 'servings'). This works on the website, but the scroller on the iPhone serving app caps out at 500 servings, which means I'd have to enter the drink twice to reflect the amount. It's not a big deal, but it's a limitation with the app.

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