But, why are the calorie counts on boxes of pasta for the dry pasta? I mean who actually eats uncooked, hard, crunchy macaroni? I waaaay overestimated the calorie counts in a couple recipes I made before I found out that the calories on the box are for 1/2 cup of DRY macaroni! The boxes don't say that (at least the ones I buy), so I just found out by accident when looking up something else in my CalorieKing book.

And, has anyone noticed that the amount of tuna in the can does not match the label? The tuna I used last night was from a 6 oz can. So, ok I know that includes the water, but the nutritional labeling states that 2 oz DRAINED tuna has 60 cal and that there are about 2.5 servings per can. Now, because I was making a recipe and calculating all the calories in the dish, I weighed the tuna and found out that after draining there were only 3.5 oz of tuna in the can. Now, I know it's been a loooooong time since I actually took a math class, but 2oz x 2.5 should equal 5 oz. I checked a couple more cans and it was the same for each. I then thought, well maybe they mean volume ounces, so I measured 2 oz in a dry measuring cup and guess what?! There are still not 2.5 servings per can (it was only about 1.5 servings). We're being shorted 1.5 oz for each can of tuna we buy! (this IS a name brand, too)

So, is there something I'm missing about measuring what is actually in the cans and packages? I'm really trying to be accurate in my counts, so I don't get lazy and start underestimating and eating too much.

The dry pasta I understand, because I would figure the servings before I put it in the pot to prepare.

The tuna completely baffles me. Are they counting the tuna water? Who would consume that (besides my cats)? Does this mean I get to eat more tuna? Yay! I'm going to measure it too, the next time I use a can. I've been doing pouches lately.

The macaroni maker doesn't know what you are going to add to the macaroni so they can only give you the calories for dry macaroni, are you making macaroni and cheese or a tomato beef sauce? Macaroni maker can't know what you are going to do his product.

I can't answer the tuna one, but very often the serving size doesn't quite match. I buy a flatbread and 2pcs (30g) is never 30g, but that's okay because I weigh it and adjust.

On the pasta issue I actually do understand that. Take 1/2 cup of dry pasta and cook it 8 mins (measure it) and continue cooking it for another 8 mins (measure it). The volume is going to be much bigger for the second one, but the original pasta amount is the same. The only thing you've added is water. So you're much better off measuring the dry pasta.

I've noticed the same thing with the tuna. If you press out the juice while you drain it, you get a lower weight. I always weigh it on my scale when figuring out the calories.

Jay

Because the calorie count of the pasta doesn't change after it's cooked - and it's easier to measure dry.

As for the tuna ... that one I don't get either.

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I've always wondered about tuna, also.

The tuna sounds like they are just ripping us off!

I was all confused about oatmeal being weighted dry too. But than I realized the same amount of dry oatmeal can weigh ten different things when cooked ten different times so it makes sense now.

Maybe you can send an email to the tuna company and ask them. Food manufacturers have all these customer service people on staff and they tend to answer.

Sarah in MD

I would imagine that the weight is including the water for the tuna. It would be hard to standardize the weight of a serving of tuna without the water, considering different people would drain off differing amounts of water.

I've also found that even in dry ingredients, sometimes the counts don't add up. Like a bag of sunflower seeds without shells claimed it contained about 3.5 servings, and the weight of the seeds did not add up to just barely 3 servings. Were they counting the bag? Rounding up from 3.01 (since it was more than 3) to 3.5? Neither really make any kind of sense.

Yeah, I refer you to the Great Popcorn Analysis of 2008:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...rn#post2395290

I still don't get the popcorn counts.

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I think that the tuna would be WITH the water.

Just like with the pasta, they don't know what you're going to use the tuna for. If you used the tuna in a recipe or something that called for the tuna to be undrained, then you'd need the water.

But then that also leads to the question, how many calories are in the tuna itself and how many are in the water?

I used to until I started weighing my tuna. 1 ounce of drained tuna has 33 calories.

Shelled sunflower seeds are 195 calories for an ounce.

That is why I *love* my digital scale and the CalorieKing website.

I've also been relying on my digital scale and CalorieKing. The tuna question came up because they say on the can itself that all the measurements and calories are for drained tuna. My question about pasta was because I guess I cook differently than most. Because I'm trying to develop calorie counts for dishes we have always eaten (just try to get the 3 males to give up what they're used to), I'm getting rid of the stuff we don't need (butter, extra salt, non-olive oils, etc) and measuring, weighing, and calculating calories for every dish we normally make. So, since the boys like plain macaroni, I just dump a box in a huge pot and then measure out what I need (after cooking) for the casserole or whatever. So, I got tricked by thinking that the calories on the box would be for 1/2 cup cooked as opposed to 1/2 cup uncooked noodles--makes a huge difference But, I guess I can see why they do it the way they do. CalorieKing even shows the difference in calories for al dente compared to 'mushy' noodles, which is how mine usually turn out

Thanks for all the input, everyone!