Question about calorie differences on the same food

  • The food in question here is Swai Fillets (Vietnamese catfish). When I look up the nutrition info for it I see most places list it around 70 calories for 4 oz. with a very few going up into the 90s. However. the particular brand I have (Great American Seafood) says 170 as do a few other brands. How is this possible?
  • Depends on whether it was wild or farm raised, what it ate, etc. Always go by the manufacturer's nutritional information. 70 calories for 4 oz. sounds very low for catfish.
  • Is the difference possibly raw versus cooked weight? Most animal proteins lose moisture and therefore weight during cooking, so it may take 6 ounces of raw fish to make 4 ounces of cooked fish.
  • Quilter - I was definitely planning to use the info for the brand I have, I was just really curious about such a big difference.

    Kaplods - That sounds like a logical explanation. If that is what they did though I wish they would have marked it as such. Now I'm not sure if I should weigh my fish before or after cooking. I may do both and take the halfway point.
  • If the label doesn't say "cooked weight" then it should be the weight of the fish in the package (I would think before thawing - which should be about the same after thawing unless the fish are deliberately coated in a layer of ice).

    You may also check the label for an ingredient list. It's not uncommon for meats to be injected with or soaked with a marinade or brine solution of salt and sugar, and sometimes even added fat, but if so there should be an ingredient label somewhere on the package.