Why Does MyFitnessPal Have So Many Duplicate Foods? The Crowdsourcing Problem

You search for "chicken breast" in MyFitnessPal and get 57 results. One says 165 calories per serving. Another says 128. A third says 231. The serving sizes vary — some say 100g, some say 4 oz, some say "1 breast" without specifying the size. You have no idea which one is right. So you pick whichever one appears first, or whichever one happens to have a green checkmark, or whichever one makes your macros look best. None of these are reliable strategies, but they are all you have.

This is not a minor inconvenience. It is a fundamental flaw in how MyFitnessPal's database works, and it directly undermines the accuracy of every food diary built on it. Here is why it happens, how it wastes your time, and what the alternative looks like.

How Bad Is the Duplicate Problem in MyFitnessPal?

The Scale of Duplicates for Common Foods

To understand the scope of the problem, consider what happens when you search for some of the most commonly tracked foods in MyFitnessPal:

Food Search	Approximate Number of Results	Calorie Range Across Entries
Chicken breast	50-80+	110-250 per serving
Banana	30-50+	72-130 per serving
Rice (white)	40-70+	120-240 per serving
Egg	20-40+	55-90 per egg
Greek yogurt	60-100+	80-200 per serving
Oatmeal	40-60+	100-200 per serving
Salmon	30-60+	120-280 per serving
Peanut butter	40-70+	90-210 per serving

These are not obscure specialty items. These are the staple foods that people log every single day. If the database cannot give you a clear, reliable answer for "chicken breast," something is fundamentally broken.

The Calorie Spread Is Not Trivial

Look at the chicken breast example. The difference between the lowest entry (110 calories) and the highest (250 calories) is 140 calories — for a single food item. If you eat chicken breast twice a day and consistently pick an entry that is off by even 50-70 calories, that is a 100-140 calorie daily error from one food alone. Over a week, that is a 700-980 calorie discrepancy. Over a month, it is enough to completely erase a carefully planned calorie deficit.

Why Does MyFitnessPal Have So Many Duplicates?

The Crowdsourcing Model Creates Duplicates by Design

MyFitnessPal's database is crowdsourced, meaning any user can submit a new food entry at any time. When a user searches for "chicken breast," does not find an entry they like (or does not scroll far enough to find one), and decides to create their own, a new duplicate is born.

This has been happening since MyFitnessPal launched in 2005. Over nearly two decades, millions of users have each created their own version of common food entries. There is no system to prevent duplicates from being created, no automated process to merge similar entries, and no human reviewer consolidating the database.

The result is entropy. Every food in the database exists in dozens of variations, each submitted by a different user, each with slightly different data, and each equally accessible to the next person who searches for that food.

Different Users Enter Data Differently

Even when multiple users create entries for genuinely the same food, the data varies because people enter information differently:

• Different serving sizes: One user enters calories per 100g, another per 4 oz, another per "1 medium breast," and another per "1 serving" with no weight specified
• Different preparation states: Raw chicken breast, cooked chicken breast, grilled chicken breast, and baked chicken breast all have different calorie densities, but many entries do not specify which state the data refers to
• Different sources: One user copies data from a USDA table, another from a food label, another from a recipe website, and another from memory
• Rounding and estimation: Some users round to the nearest 10, others enter precise values, and some simply guess
• Regional differences: A "chicken breast" in the US, UK, and Australia may have different typical sizes and nutrition profiles

No Cleanup Mechanism Exists

In a well-maintained database, duplicate entries would be identified and merged or removed during regular maintenance. MyFitnessPal has no effective mechanism for this. Users can report entries, but with 14 million items in the database and new duplicates being created daily, the reports overwhelm any cleanup effort.

The problem is self-reinforcing. The more duplicates exist, the harder it is for users to find the "right" entry, which makes them more likely to create yet another duplicate — which adds to the problem for the next user.

How Do Duplicate Entries Actually Affect Your Tracking?

You Cannot Know Which Entry Is Correct

This is the core problem. When you see 57 entries for chicken breast, you have no reliable way to determine which one contains accurate nutrition data. The strategies most users employ are all flawed:

• Picking the first result: The first result is determined by popularity (most logged), not accuracy. The most-logged entry may have been the first one created years ago, regardless of whether its data is correct.
• Looking for the green checkmark: MyFitnessPal's verification checkmark does not guarantee accuracy, and many correct entries lack the checkmark while some incorrect entries have it.
• Choosing the entry that matches your expectations: This is confirmation bias. If you want chicken breast to be 130 calories, you will find an entry that says 130 calories. That does not mean it is right.
• Picking the USDA entry: If you can find a USDA-sourced entry, it is likely more accurate. But USDA entries are not always clearly labeled, and many users do not know to look for them.

Time Wasted Scrolling and Comparing

Beyond accuracy, the duplicate problem wastes time. Instead of a 3-second search that returns one reliable result, you spend 15-30 seconds scrolling through dozens of entries, comparing calorie values, checking serving sizes, and trying to guess which one is right. Across a full day of logging with 15-20 food items, this adds up to meaningful friction.

Research in habit formation consistently shows that friction is the primary enemy of behavior change. Every extra second spent navigating duplicate entries makes it slightly less likely that you will maintain your tracking habit over time.

Inconsistency Across Your Food Diary

Even if you find a "good" entry for chicken breast today, you might pick a different entry tomorrow — because the search results may display in a different order, or because you are in a hurry and grab the first result without checking. This means the same food in your diary shows different calorie values on different days, making your tracking data internally inconsistent.

This inconsistency makes it impossible to identify real patterns. If Tuesday's chicken breast shows 165 calories and Thursday's shows 210 calories, but you ate the same amount both days, your weekly calorie trend is distorted by noise that has nothing to do with your actual eating.

What Does a Database Without Duplicates Look Like?

A verified database solves the duplicate problem at its root by not allowing uncontrolled user submissions. Instead of anyone being able to create entries, all food data comes from authoritative sources and is reviewed before being added to the database.

In a verified database, when you search for "chicken breast," you get a small number of clearly differentiated entries: raw vs cooked, with skin vs without skin, specific cuts, and standardized serving sizes. Each entry has one accurate set of nutrition data. There is no guessing, no scrolling through 57 options, and no wondering which one is right.

MyFitnessPal vs Verified Database: The Duplicate Problem

Aspect	MyFitnessPal (Crowdsourced)	Nutrola (Verified)
Entries for "chicken breast"	50-80+ with varying data	Small set of clearly labeled entries
Who creates entries	Any user, no review	Verified from authoritative sources
Calorie consistency	Varies 100+ calories across entries	Consistent, accurate data
Serving sizes	Inconsistent, often unspecified	Standardized and clear
Time to find correct entry	15-30 seconds of scrolling	3-5 seconds
Confidence in selected entry	Low (which one is right?)	High (verified data)
Entry maintenance	Rarely updated or cleaned	Regularly maintained

How Nutrola Eliminates the Duplicate Problem

Nutrola maintains a database of over 1.8 million verified food entries. The key word is "verified" — every entry comes from an authoritative source and has been reviewed for accuracy. The database is curated, not crowdsourced.

When you search for a food in Nutrola, you get a clean set of accurate results instead of a chaotic wall of duplicates. Serving sizes are standardized. Calorie and macronutrient data is consistent and reliable. You spend your time logging food, not auditing database entries.

Beyond the database, Nutrola offers multiple fast logging methods: AI-powered photo recognition that identifies food from a picture, voice logging for hands-free entry, barcode scanning for packaged foods, and recipe import from URLs. All of these input methods pull from the same verified database, so accuracy is consistent regardless of how you log.

All of this costs €2.50 per month — with zero ads, tracking for 100+ nutrients, Apple Watch and Wear OS support, and availability in 9 languages.

How to Switch from MyFitnessPal to Nutrola

Step 1: Test the Difference

Before fully committing, try a simple test. Search for five common foods you log regularly in MyFitnessPal and note the number of results and the calorie range. Then search for the same foods in Nutrola and compare. The difference in clarity and consistency is immediately apparent.

Step 2: Download and Set Up Nutrola

Nutrola is available on iOS and Android. Create your account, enter your goals, and customize your nutrient tracking. With 100+ trackable nutrients, you can monitor far more than just calories and macros.

Step 3: Log Normally for a Week

Use Nutrola as your primary tracker for one week. Notice how much faster logging becomes when you are not scrolling through duplicate entries. Notice how much more consistent your daily totals are when each food has one reliable entry.

Step 4: Compare Your Weekly Totals

After a week of tracking in Nutrola, compare your average daily calories to what you were logging in MyFitnessPal. Many users find a meaningful difference — often discovering they were systematically under- or over-counting due to selecting inconsistent entries.

Step 5: Make the Full Switch

Once you see the difference in speed and accuracy, cancel MyFitnessPal (through your device's app store if you have a premium subscription) and commit to Nutrola as your primary tracker.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does MyFitnessPal show so many entries for the same food?

MyFitnessPal uses a crowdsourced database where any user can create new food entries. Over nearly 20 years, millions of users have each created their own versions of common foods, resulting in dozens or hundreds of duplicate entries per food item with no effective cleanup mechanism.

How do I know which MyFitnessPal entry is correct?

Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to determine which entry is correct among dozens of duplicates. The green checkmark provides a marginally better signal but does not guarantee accuracy. Entries sourced from the USDA are generally more reliable but are not always clearly identified. The most dependable solution is switching to a tracker with a verified database.

Does the duplicate problem affect my calorie tracking accuracy?

Yes, significantly. When the same food has entries ranging from 110 to 250 calories, the entry you select introduces a potential error that compounds across every food logged throughout the day. Research suggests this contributes to overall tracking error rates of 15-25%.

Can I fix the duplicate problem in MyFitnessPal myself?

You can try to always select USDA-sourced entries or create your own entries from verified sources. However, this requires significant effort for every food item, and your carefully created entries compete with the thousands of existing duplicates in search results. The system-level problem cannot be solved at the individual user level.

Is there a calorie tracker without duplicate food entries?

Yes. Nutrola uses a verified database of over 1.8 million entries where each food has been sourced from authoritative data and reviewed for accuracy. The database is curated to minimize duplicates and ensure consistent, reliable nutrition data for every search.

How does a verified database prevent duplicates?

In a verified database, entries are created and maintained by the database team using authoritative sources rather than accepting open submissions from users. Each food item has a defined set of entries covering different preparation methods and serving sizes, all with consistent and accurate nutrition data. New entries go through a review process before being added.

---

MyFitnessPal is a trademark of MyFitnessPal, Inc. This article is an independent editorial piece and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by MyFitnessPal, Inc.