I HATE packaging!

Okay, so this is gonna be a rant... you have been warned :) (feel free to join in and share your stories)

I HATE PACKAGING!

It's That Time Of Month and I've been sooo hungry today and craving chocolate like MAD, my mum coinsidentl bought a packet of bounty chocolate bars and I figure, why not, if I stay within my calorie allowance, no harm done.

Well, I flipped it over and it said "28.5g 134 kcal" etc. etc. and I figured that wasn't too bad. I could live with etc.

Well, it wasn't until AFTER i'd finished the damned thing that I look over the packaging and under the little flap is "57g" So i've really had 268 calories.

Now I'm pissed, why cant they just say, this ENTIRE packet contains such-and-such rather than trying to make it look better than it is.

This isn't the first time it's happened to me but I'm still ticked off.

Why can they not just make it clear? I've seen one do the whole, "just 55 calories" and then in the small writting say that's only for a 10th of the miniscule packt.

LUCKILY! i still had 560 calories left for the day, but I'm still ticked off because i thought I had closer to 700.

I now officially HATE bounty.

nothing?

I can't be the only person this has happened to.

yep, the only one...

I like seeing some packaging that says this many calories in a serving, this many servings in a package, this many calories in a package.  It's a wake-up call 'cause when you're eating a bag of fritos and you figure, okay, two servings, two hundred something calories, not bad, it doesn't really hit you until dinner time that you really ate over five hundred calories worth of fritos.

I've never had an incident myself where I ate something and didn't realise it was more than one serving.  I'm very careful about that sort of thing and whatever I miss, my amasingly supportive Alex catches.  If I send him out on a candy run, he always checks the label and brings back something decent in calories.  For the longest time he wouldn't buy me a Twix because he thought it was 260 or whatever calories PER cookie.  I eventually pointed out to him that it was for both of 'em.

Always inspect!  Read every part of a wrapper of something you're eating.  It's a good distraction and will sometimes keep you from eating too many.

just kidding, c_l!

I don't really eat much processed food/candies/chocolate bars anymore but when I do, trust me, I am sure that I haven't been reading the packaging that closely. now, thanks to you, I'm curious and will have to see if I see what you are saying...

I ALSO hate packaging but I hate it because all that gargabe is SO unnecessary and adds to our environmental problems...

I guess I am adding to your rant...hope that helps.

redinz tuf.

i LOVE packaging!

when a food is in a package and i have to read it, it is likely junk food i should not be eating~

it tells me (after a little maths, which is tuf too) how many calories are coming from fat, how much iron, how much protein. it helps me decide what i should or should not eat. i don't eat chips as a rule - but an hour ago i saw some nice flax tortillas that would have been nice with chili... i read the packaging, and avoided eating god knows how many cals per bag when a serving of 17 chips was 225 calories. how about; forget it?! lol 

i will toast up a soft tortilla before i put that garbage in me. thnx. 

i love packaging! i wish there was even more info on the little square. i dont even care if they split servings even smaller, i have the awesome power of a calculator to help. and hey, memory comes in handy too.

I absolutely hate it when a serving size is listed as __grams... as if we all have scales in our kitchen to tell us what the real serving size is.  I just wish everything clearly labeled the nutritional information of an easy-to-measure reasonable serving so we woudln't be so damn confused.  But that's wishful thinking, I guess. <:\

I totally agree, at least break it into normal portions, I have no idea what is 20g or 1.3ozs, if it's a snack, how many pieces can I have?  And stop with the 500 calories, 2.8 servings... I shouldn't have to do algebra for my lunch!  If it is going to break it up (and be sneeky) they should have to list total calories before they start breaking it into 200 cal a serving (serving size: .5 butterfly wings worth, servings per bag 311.8852)

I HATE it when that happens. When I was just beginning to get informed about nutrition and started watching what I was eating, I was all motivated, and I was reading labels and making smart choices. However, my sister one night decided to make some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I knew it was bad for you, but I looked at the label and it didn't seem that bad. Then, after I had eaten my portion, I checked the label again and way below the label, there was a section that said that with preperation, it added a bunch of fat, and TRANS fat, and all sorts of awful things. I felt stupid and I was so mad. I read the labels all the way through now.

I've been fooled in the past; can't remember distinct examples, but I know when I started paying attention, I was really shocked at the portion sizes on some of the packages. 'Oh it's only 100 calories - wait - wuh....how can there be 20 servings in here?? How much have I had already?'

I don't fall victim to that anymore. I basically check the back of everything I buy now. It can take me a while to find the right cereal, with the right portion size I want that corresponds to a safe number of calories I will settle for :)

Original Post by cellulitedelight:

...amasingly supportive Alex catches. If I send him out on a candy run, he always checks the label and brings back something decent in calories. For the longest time he wouldn't buy me a Twix because he thought it was 260 or whatever calories PER cookie. I eventually pointed out to him that it was for both of 'em.

 oh my god! you have like, the best boyfriend ever! you hang on to that! (although i know you are)

the best my boy can do is be-grudgningly bring me a bag of doritos around 'that time of the month' and remind me that i shouldn't be eating them as i dive in...but what can we say, i'm the dominant one *shrug*

although he does go out of his way to find new 'good' foods for me a wal*mart (where he works), like quakes rice cakes and easy mac (high in sodium, but only 220 cals, and a nice warm lunch sometimes just hits the spot) so it's not all bad,

i was just thinking how amazingly sweet of him! good catch!

Erm, I hate to break it to you all but a calorie is not a calorie. While staying within your calorie limits is admirable eating sugary, fast absorbing foods is a big no no regardless of calories.

 If you for example ate a chocolate bar that was 200 calories of mostly sugar, that is nowhere near equal to say a small chicken breast of the same calories. The chicken not only has no carbs but the protein will further speed up your metabolism. Depending on what you're eating you can have quite a few more calories when it's the right kinds of food.

Original Post by shirleysugar:

Erm, I hate to break it to you all but a calorie is not a calorie. While staying within your calorie limits is admirable eating sugary, fast absorbing foods is a big no no regardless of calories.

 If you for example ate a chocolate bar that was 200 calories of mostly sugar, that is nowhere near equal to say a small chicken breast of the same calories. The chicken not only has no carbs but the protein will further speed up your metabolism. Depending on what you're eating you can have quite a few more calories when it's the right kinds of food.

 

I always like to think that way.   I think its totally absurd that someone could gain the same amount of weight whether they're eating 300 extra cals of celery as opposed to a 300-calorie serving of cookie dough ice cream.... I guess I like to think that way because I'm always overeating on fruits and veggies until I'm monstrously full..  <xP 

I think I've been able to notice it everytime so far, the example I can think of is bagels. Some of them say 160 calories per serving, but the serving is half a bagel...who eats half a bagel? I want the whole thing, 1 bagel is 1 serving! I agree they are just trying to trick people into thinking it's less calories than it is.

Original Post by veganpancake:

I always like to think that way.   I think its totally absurd that someone could gain the same amount of weight whether they're eating 300 extra cals of celery as opposed to a 300-calorie serving of cookie dough ice cream.... I guess I like to think that way because I'm always overeating on fruits and veggies until I'm monstrously full.. 

 Yea exactly. There's so much info out there about the thermic effect of food. Basically foods like protein speed up the metabolism thus allowing for more fat loss or more calories for the same result. And then certain types of fat (omega 3) has been shown to also speed up the metabolism and increase the ease at which fat is burnt.

 So yea, a calorie is not a calorie.

I live in South Asia and most of the food is cooked from scratch so its hard to guess the calories right.  Snacks and other packaged food here come in serving size packets.  I just bought a packet of Lays American Style Cream and Onion Chips - the 15g package says it has 82 calories ....  the beauty of such small packets means that a serving is a serving - and you know how many calories in that snack -  unfortunately it generates a lot of garbage.  I remember though in America it was hard to buy anything in the small sizes.  Biscuits or cookies come in packets twice the size I get here.   There is a need to provide more smaller options - all we need is more eco-friendly packaging.   It won't cost less at the checkout counter but it will be easier on the waistline and scales.

wow this post has turned into something entirely outside its purpose.

For those who shared your stories, thank you sooo much as it makes me feel less like an idiot.

For everyone who talked about how a calorie is not a calorie, how what i eat is junk and how yes i am the only person this has happened to...

I'm just gonna ignore ya!

Cause in the end, if I want chocolate, I'm having the damn chocolate, sugary junk food or not.

I don't appreciate American packaging, either.

I got to a local, Subway type and the bag of chips you can get is 2 servings. That's retarded, who says, hey, random guy standing in line behind me, you want to split this bag since I don't need 2 servings of potato chips?

And then even at restaurants, most of the menu items are 2-3 servings for the whole thing! I guess we just have to "split" everything now, either with a friend, significant other, or eat half and take half home. *Sigh* I think the FDA should do something about American portion sizes. Or at least the "chain" sit down and eat places should have half servings, or something, even though that's more expensive! A place like Mickey D's at least you can get just a cheese burger, you don't have to get a double quarter pounder and eat 1/2 of it! I know some places do have "right portion size" items, but they ALL should. Gurrr. I don't want a chicken breast and 2 scoops of mashed potatoes, I want 1/2 chicken breast and 1 scoop of potatoes, PLEASE?!

Oh I know someone's going to have SOMETHING negative to say about this post. *Ducks under desk* 

I am originally from america and I hate the packaging too. Especially the half portions, and the worst is cereal, almost ALWAYS in oz, how much is an ounce, out here is no better, grams!!! ARGH, I do not know how much 45grams of all bran is ok!!!! So When I eat all bran I have this horrible looming paranoia that I am logging it in too low, and when I shoot high with the number, I take extra snacks, because I think I have calories to "spare" ACK!!!!

 It is VERY confusing and I hate it.

Oh yeah, and I have been burned by misreads, and it makes you feel so violated. XP

Original Post by veganpancake:

I absolutely hate it when a serving size is listed as __grams... as if we all have scales in our kitchen to tell us what the real serving size is.  I just wish everything clearly labeled the nutritional information of an easy-to-measure reasonable serving so we woudln't be so damn confused.  But that's wishful thinking, I guess. <:\

I agree! I spend so much time trying to figure out how many calories i consumed, its so annoying