Calorie Detective: The Real Math Behind Food Labels | Op-Docs | The New York Times

With the help of a science lab, the filmmaker Casey Neistat finds that calorie listings on food labels can be highly inaccurate.
Read the story here: nyti.ms/WHJFPY
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Calorie Detective: The Real Math Behind Food Labels | Op-Docs | The New York Times
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[@animequeenfischer6425]

Well, this certainly isn't going to make my ED brain any happier😬

[@emilylivingstone8968]

aniMeQueen Fischer exactly how I’m feeling watching this 😂

[@jae3004]

I was about to say this

[@MelAndLara]

Mood

[@idkman2633]

Tough luck.

[@nicoletizoni4850]

Ana is quaking

[@Devrandief]

Omg... the muffin is 714 calories?! Wtf...

[@swallowedinthesea11]

Hello Nindy!

[@rainbow-er4py]

i think is more though

[@joemann7971]

800 calories for a Muffin isn't uncommon, but claiming 640 calories is ridiculous. I'd rather companies underestimate calories than over estimate.

[@Brono25]

Ive been counting calories for a couple weeks. I have large homeade meals of meats and veggies that still only count up to 400-500 calories. Yet theres this small muffin with over 700! So much harder eating calories with whole foods, but I am trying to gain weight.

[@oriflamecosmetics9395]

How we know that calories in meal how much...

[@arathcazares1326]

Bronn lose weight is better.

[@Pure_117]

@@arathcazares1326 some people have problems GAINING WEIGHT.

[@Pure_117]

@Bronn Even though you wrote this 4 years ago I recommend you eating nuts, avocado, cheese, milk, Greek yogurt, sprouted bread, olive oil(extra virgin preferably) and fish . These are by far the healthiest whole foods that can help you gain weight. If you have trouble eating a meal because you get full easy I would recommend making smoothies as a side meal or snack that has high calories but made with nutritious vegetables and fruit and nuts.

[@OswaldDigestiveClinic]

It is, which is why I love real/whole foods and intuitive eating as an alternative to calorie counting. Have you met w/ a dietitian before? We have lots of tricks/tools to help people with weight gain.

[@FoolAndHisMoney23]

Excellent, thank you. As a friend in the food business told me, "If I could tell a lie that would enable me to sell more product, and not get caught, would I do it?"

[@SuperSabeMan]

And the bigest lier was the Vegan food

[@ReptilerescueLasVegas]

Chris Riggs-Saberton ya, that was disapointing

[@WatchMeSayStuff]

Which begs the question, if the calorie count was that far off, how can we be sure that it's actually vegan?

[@Logeekistics]

test it on a vegan and see if they get triggered

[@jessicatrentwood832]

Because they cater to the most pretentious eaters in the market. Throw in labels like Vegan or Healthy, and these idiots will eat it up and deny what they see with their own eyes on the scale.

[@yy17782]

Jessica Trentwood lol when people call vegans "pretentious" and "idiots" to cover up their own guilt and shame for killing animals. Vegans aren't as ego-centric as you, we want to do good for the planet, not just do it for our bodies.

[@ringosis]

Sorta weird that the whole video is about not trusting those calorie information labels...and then the entire test is benchmarked by the calorie information label on a Big Mac.

[@MisterDibitybopty]

At this point, do you really think no-one has tested the actual calories of a Big Mac?

[@Strikiebg]

yeah you got a good point there xDD

[@starsn7974]

well i think this video is meant for entertainment but the final message of lets enforce what they say well i think that the worst idea ever i think it just goes to show that yeah theres space for error in food dont think that the label means exactly what it says it does and im pretty sure if you look into it closer it says that on all food information websites they direct you to, that it is just an average.

[@HuntingtonsDisco]

But what if McDonalds was lying about their calories too so your comparisons for scale were wrong?

[@arathcazares1326]

Chris Green I was asking the same thing. Lol

[@AzimSF]

5:30 Dr. Ronita was adorable

[@krozareq]

Subway came under because the franchisee is skimping out on product to lower food costs. If you go to Subway a lot then you've likely seen the store managers pushing that portion control. A lot of places will hook you up because most fast food establishments have to start chunking stuff out shortly after its made because fried food quickly deteriorates in quality.

[@MichaelMa]

Eat more Subway and McDonalds

[@MaiPoirot]

I'm happy about Subway, I love those sandwiches.

[@Projekt140]

Also, that healthy sandwich might actually be healthy... I mean while it does have a lot more calories, it's what you're getting the nutrients from that's more important.

[@letters7777]

i agree. plus it's probably easier to resist the temptation and put down the piece of cake then to run 3 miles on the treadmill to burn that off.

[@bingebammer9927]

Total caloric count will always be depending on the actual weight of what youre eating. Why was there no calories/100g comparisons?

[@verylazylewis]

notice how Casey isn't putting his face all over the video? truly focusing on the issue! I enjoy his videos.

[@fischmayne]

Corey this video was fantastic!

[@mintvagoo]

This was outstanding, NYT.

[@misterioes89]

4:13 "Was nearly double" ? Did nobody notice this yet? Alright then.

[@arathcazares1326]

misterioes89 I knew it’s more than that because of bread, and tofu

[@jeongbalsancat]

ikr

[@fluierasdefag1800]

"-They are pretty healthy? - yeah, its the best!" Good marketing :)

[@jeongbalsancat]

yeah! There isn't a lot of fat in muffins to start with anyway. it's mostly sugar

[@zorakbane]

Now this is quality content. More of this kind of news

[@jeffm8681]

Something he didn't mention, how much did the food weight, compared to the nutritional data serving weight? I've often weighed my fast food, and found it's typically different than the serving weight, so I adjust my calorie number accordingly.

[@misternormL]

LOL @ 4:35 AWKWARD AM I RIGHT?

[@liamcollins8565]

The algorithm now recommending Casey’s videos years later...

[@AleksaNoeksa]

I saw the title being drawn and I was like "looks like the NY Times copied Casey Neistat's style" then like 2 seconds later I hear Casey Neistat start narrating.

[@Simcore999]

finally a good video

[@DavidAlanGilbert]

So most of them were within ~10% except for that sandwhich which took most of the days discrepancy - IMHO within 10% is pretty impressive.

[@jeongbalsancat]

10% is acceptable imo too. You burn some digesting the food and you don't really eat every single scrap

[@Strikiebg]

very good video i cant understand why so low views and i also cant understand how this big sandwich has only 360 calories.. DAFUQ

[@xinlin341]

Strikie I think it is because the bread of the sandwich is bigger than the filling...

[@sabiq1000]

Caseys original channel has the views

[@GabrielSidorVictor]

Anne Liu if you take that bread an squish it, it's mostly air

[@tamajinn]

I guarantee you that sub has no cheese, mayo, or other fatty spreads. Most of the calories come from the large roll. The turkey breast is a lean meat and naturally low in calories. The raw veggies add almost no calories. It's also only half a sub which might not be enough for some people.

[@navneethsundararaghavan1585]

Wow... Van creates a channel and we are all recommended the NY Times neistat videos

[@MsShiinaapple]

Yes because a lot of people don't really know what are they actually eating. Especially dining out. The calories of a meal may easily jump to 1200+ which is insanely horrible. (Unless I'm a long distance runner, I would never consume more than 600 calories in a meal.)

[@BattlearcheryCA]

thanks for the awesome video! we need more

[@amandaengel9287]

I love this video. Thank you for sharing.

[@wenzyd9551]

I'm surprised yet pleased by the lack of comments talking about the fact that this was done by Casey.

[@SizedChewyStick]

Not quite the end. Some people are actually trying to lose weight which is why there is need for calorie counting. Just working out won't do it. It's more about what you eat than anything. 80% diet, 20% exercise.

[@siprus]

I'm not sure why you expect the calory counts to be exact especially for something like hand made muffin. The muffins don't tend to be even exactly same size.

[@l1fescape53]

1:58 "It looks like you're measuring caloric content. Would you like help?"

[@theepicmemes9891]

Last minute of the video: Good bye She: thanks for everyth... Shuts the door 😂😂😂

[@stealth50k]

Nothing is accurate unless you measure it yourself on a scale. Anything premade usually is off already from the labeled calories. Fast food is never accurate as the workers never measure exactly in grams. The scoops out of the containers are never the same size in weight. Nothing is accurate in outside dining. To be accurate you gotta make the food from scratch at home mostly with a scale.

[@kaidengreen3775]

27

[@kaidengreen3775]

27 like's

[@jeongbalsancat]

people at chipotle or subway or similar tend to put a little bit more so they avoid customers complaining about sandwiches being too little or something

[@lukejtmulder]

He says that measuring calories is extremely complicated process but it's not you can actually make a fairly accurate calorimeter at home with stuff laying around and if you take into account heat loss your margin of error can get pretty close to the commercial bomb calorimeters that are thermally sealed. A calorie is just the energy it takes to raise one litre of water by one degree celcius.

[@GabrielSidorVictor]

Cool. Thanks for the great work

[@antagonistictherapy]

I'd imagine that the act itself of seeing a displayed number is enough for some people to make better food choices, rather than believing the accuracy of the number wholeheartedly. I will admit that for a time I counted calories and while I'm sure I was overeating my daily calorie goal, the fact that I was documenting my consumption was enough to help me lose some weight. Do I want the information to be accurate? Sure. Is it better to have inaccurate information versus no information at all? Absolutely.

[@WolfJulia2001]

just because it's better to have something over nothing does not automatically make it acceptable. Having a dictator rule our country? I guess it's better than anarchism!

[@martinjr9199]

Very good video I have been in a calorie diet, and it has give me very good results. A calorie diet is just a calculation some nutritionist dont believe in calories, but Ive notice many positive things in a calorie diet. One is that you realize how much you are eating or how less, even though not everything is perfectly label you are going to lose weight in my experience

[@budekins542]

Are the measurements by the scientists 'gross' calories or 'net' calories?? The calories on food labels are 'net' calories. .

[@kevindibb6534]

Clippy at 1:59. Really??

[@braindeadbonobo]

LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE TRYING TO CALCULATE CALORIE COUNTS

[@bretso25]

Very nice! I've always wanted to do this.

[@sallyhankache7554]

*cries in ed*

[@brianwade8649]

Excellent! I love accountability videos! Thank you

[@RyanTomBzoskie]

Compares it to a Big Mac but doesn't test the Big Mac... why?

[@SamSam-cw3yy]

Ryan B Because testing 5 items already took 10 hours with the efforts of three people.

[@vuvuzelaelaela]

A good diet is vastly more important than working out in terms of maintaining a reasonable weight.

[@emoemu4]

600x3=1800 calories a day. That's less than maintenance for most people.

[@kalyuta2]

casey, you are the best!

[@LisaSpirito87]

Thar's why if you eat what you're supposed to eat, say whole fruits, vegetables, and lean protein, you dont have to care about calories. If you're eating muffins, frappaccinos, burriots and sandwichs, then calorie counting is going to drive you crazy. Its more about the QUALITY of the calories not just the QUANTITY.

[@xxforgiven13xx]

quantity > quality.... You can loose weight eating poptarts/pizza. Calories in vs calories out. HOWEVER, for the body to function properly it needs adequate micronutrients

[@DévBoxLife]

Casey can you make some weight loss, healthy living guide / documentary!

[@movementsNYC]

Hotel restaurants are required to also post this info on their kitchen walls. I was surprised to hear that since No Guest goes into them.

[@trevormoomaw]

I loved this! More please!

[@Robofcourse]

4:13 nearly double?...

[@doordonut5427]

First I was like "This guy is ripping of Casey Neistat", then I realised "it is Casey neistat!"

[@faithtriestovlog564]

Very informative

[@Smckee1030]

The title of the video says "Calorie Detective". It doesn't say "Eating Healthy" or "How to Lose Weight and Be Healthy"...that's a different video. This video proves exactly what it set out to - the "colorie" discrepency in food labeling. This is good information for anyone trying to lose a few pounds. I eat pretty healthy generally - but in that rare occassion that I might stop for a quick meal or go out to dinner, it's good to know that the calories I need to burn may be > what I planned.

[@MurderMysteryArchives]

Well done for reuploading a viral video

[@rhombusted2798]

Actually casey re-uploaded it

[@miguel30215]

Who do you think will check these numbers? The FDA? LOL fucken joke

[@emoemu4]

I wonder if the "healthy vegan" sandwich is actually a label printing error. Many sandwiches (and packaged items) end up being TWO servings; with the calories being almost exactly double, it makes me wonder if a crucial typo happened to make "Serving: 1" instead of "2."

[@jeongbalsancat]

yeah that could be a possibility

[@GP1706]

Now one video on how many calories we actually need in a day

[@samsaruhhh]

calories isn't the first thing people should be worried about, what's primary to someones health is the insulin and hormonal response your body has to food.. all the food featured in the video was junk food comprised of mainly processed carbs and industrial seeds oils

[@flaviantropy]

That asian dude at 2:31 is awesome

[@myl7myl7]

cool vid. well, to answer the last question, the obvious answer is cost, time and resources. Best you can do is a ball park.

[@lin2k4]

The problem is that serving sizes at restaurants are inconsistent

[@DavidDougherty99]

Beggs the question... tisk tisk nyt!

[@rinkupahadi]

Watching this in 2021

[@jeongbalsancat]

any regular generic sandwich bread 1.5cm thick is 240 calories for two slices of the bread alone.. check the label on sliced bread and common sensically you'll know the sandwich label cannot be right. So are sushi. 100 calories for a 6 pack, some with salmon? There's more than 100 calories in the rice alone WITHOUT sushi seasoning. Check instant microwave rice packs.

[@jasonciola1783]

Well, the actual amount of Calories in food if the amount of fat, carbohydrates and protein is correct, will always be more than on the nutrition label. This is because they use the values of 4 Calories/gram of protein and Carbs, and 9 cal/gram. These are lower than the actual amount of Calories per gram in each. Both carbs and fat are close but protein is actually around 6 Cal/gram if I remember correctly. They use the lesser values because they estimate the amount you will actually be able to use from each Calorie source.

[@streetpreacherstudios862]

Not.. cool..

[@n3rdography]

This is another reason why counting calories is pointless. It's more important to eat whole foods and for proper nutrition.

[@bhojjadamotabanda]

They are making the same mistakes which are made by many people I have met who are unable to lose weigh by counting calories. They are using vague serving sizes like "one muffin", "one burger" etc. You HAVE to weigh it if you want to be reasonably accurate. Ideally, you would be cooking what you eat yourself and only occasionally buying readymade food. So if you want to count calories, you weigh the ingredients. It is almost impossible to count calories if you are frequently buy readymade food and try to count calories without weighing it. eg, the fax they received for the muffin clearly state the value for 164g muffin. They cannot use it without weighing the actual muffin. I've weighed burgers etc a lot of times, and they are all different, and usually higher than the value referred on the pack. The nutritional value is given for a certain weight. If you want to count calories then weigh the actual product and calculate from the label. This works for big brand products. Products from a lot smaller companies have wrong nutritional data. A lot of times the numbers don't even add up. So you have your common sense.I've also seen the same approach with regards to fruits, meats, eggs etc. 1 banana, 1 mango, 1 egg, 1 chicken breast. They don't mean anything. 1 banana can be 50g or 150g, it would change the calories 3 fold. A mango can be 100g or 350g. Eggs range from 35g to 65g. And so on. So measurement is also important.

[@spinaLzTVgaming]

Caloric value =/= Health value

[@cakes37]

4:34 yikes.... hindsight amirite?

[@gabelunn7420]

Casey, While this is another awesome, and I do mean awesome, video, I can't help but ask why you're strictly sticking to the point about calories? Calories are not necessarily the thing that you should be looking our for in a diet. The biggest concern for people who are watching their weight and what they're eating is the trans/saturated fat, carbohydrate, and protein contents. Couldn't you have given us more info on the 734 calorie muffin? Love the videos. Cheers.

[@davidd9707]

Bring your own lunch.

[@tomatobrush3283]

I never read labels, just don't eat a lot of snacks or any soda drinks.

[@eusouramiro]

go Casey..

[@drakenstein99]

i can understand small issues like in fast food, people put too much on the sandwich or too little

[@kpopgrrl]

Maybe the sandwich company made a mistake and it's actually supposed to say 2 servings per package. If you only ate half the sandwich it would have been pretty close to their count but they made a huge mistake. I hope you contacted them about this.

[@jelgshek]

Just eat less. We didn't know what calories were at one point... it seems that becoming aware of them has only made things worse and more complicated. Just. Eat. Less.

[@eyesoreist]

The world as I knew it has been torn apart

[@polepositionxxxxxx9269]

I think for the most part it's accurate. You should message the vegan sandwich company about the inaccuracy, because it might be just a poor manufacturing practice. It could also be a miss calibration of the bomb calorometer at the doctors too.

[@Antony_Oscar]

Wow. This is scary. But I'm glad that at least Subway was right!

[@jinkazama1272]

Sadly one of the things overlooked by Gov. health agencies. In other countries this isn't even a thing.

[@hula62]

Wow! Good job. I eat this kind of food because it is portioned out. I thought it would help with my calorie count. Hmmm.

[@ctaylordilll]

Bravo

[@Loathomar]

Calories are the only thing the determinate weight gain or lose. Burn more calories that you take it, you lose weight. Burn less, you gain weight. That it! The difference in how you get calories can change how you feel and can effect other problems. But you can eat technically eat 2000 calories of pure saturated fat or refined sugar and lose weight, or 3K calories of spinach and gain weight. But 3K calories of spinach is 30lb and 2K of oil is 0.5lb.

[@LFSPharaoh]

A Big Mac should be higher than the stated amount. You need to rest that as well, speaking of accuracy. And at 5:20 - that's not what begging the question means.

[@usedinternet]

cries in anorexia

[@nikonman1]

All calories are from fat, carbohydrate, and protein. (and alcohol, but we're not talking about that.) From a standpoint of weight loss/gain, the total calories is what you need to watch. Simply avoiding the "unhealthiest" calories, is not going to lead you to that beach body.

[@Mortalomena]

Being low calorie content doesnt mean its healthy, just means there is less ingredients... Almost all food is healthy when eaten in consideration, non-US Pizzas for example (US ones are made of toxic dough) Its the highly processed fast food that kills you with its carsinogens.

[@matthewburga]

The healthy, vegan sandwich wasn't 'nearly double', it was over double the amount advertised.

[@vivumconcentum]

I never expected it to be different, actually. How is it possible to be so exact?! I notice, especially, the chance for a product to have different nutritional value than stated, rises as the consumed product is more volumous. It is then getting more and more likely, that nutritional value is not exact. E.g., 10% difference within a so-called 'low' kcal snack is different from 10% within the calories typically found in dinner. Relatively it doesn't change, but in absolute terms, it does...

[@ghw.]

The bomb calorimeter method is actually inaccurate because it tests calories by burning food, but we don't digest everything.

[@Johnnyhuynh93]

the calorimeter counts the actually calorie in the food. And those who write the nutrition fact count the calorie netto calorie. Because we burn calories while eating it and digest it.

[@seanjuth]

Im not the kind of person who watchs my calories but this is still interesting

[@mineshpatel9494]

I am here from Casey's the thrush about cariores

[@Ronnicus]

man food is assumed to have the least amount of each ingredient and so it's the "ideal" number of calories; that's why it's always over. But since it's close enough, you couldn't do anything about it anyway