Buzz
Counting calories with an app seems easy—until you start measuring your portions. Then you’ll notice that an orange weighs less without its peel, removing the skin from your baked chicken cuts down on calories, and there’s an entry for bone-in chicken thighs, but you’re not eating the bone. So how many calories do you actually consume?
These are important questions, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (known for its nutrient testing) has the answers. When you search for basic items like “apple” or “chicken breast” in a food tracking app, you’ll come across entries based on the USDA’s research. (If you use MyFitnessPal, which I personally wouldn't recommend, there’s typically a USDA entry among the top picks.)
Are peels and bones included in the calorie count for common foods?
In many cases, you'll find separate listings for food items with or without their skins, peels, and other commonly discarded parts. But if there's only one listing, here’s a simple guideline for you:
Portion sizes refer to the edible material without waste (for example, the edible part of an apple without the core or the meat of a chicken leg without the bone).
The nutritional info for oranges refers to the flesh only, excluding the skin and peel. While the peel is technically edible, it's considered waste in this case. If you'd prefer to consume the peel—for instance, when making candied orange slices—there’s a specific listing for oranges, raw, with peel and another one for just orange peels.
You can often find more detailed information by checking the USDA’s FoodDataCentral website and looking up the “measures” or “ingredients” section for a specific food. For example, chicken backs include meat and skin but not bones, and they're assumed to be salted. Bananas, on the other hand, are peeled.
To understand what’s classified as the ‘refuse’ or ‘inedible portion’ of a food, you may need to explore some obscure government resources. I don’t expect you to do this every time you’re about to eat a chicken thigh, but here’s an example from the FOOD_DES file for the Standard Reference (Legacy) database (don’t ask):
Grapefruit does not contain the peel, seeds, core, or membrane.
A KFC drumstick does not account for cartilage or bone (distinct entries exist for whether it is served whole or after the skin and breading have been removed).
A porterhouse steak excludes bone and connective tissue, but includes the surrounding fat. Separate entries exist for porterhouse steaks with the fat either trimmed to 1/8" or fully removed.
A pot roast excludes connective tissue and seam fat.
So, for generic foods, if you’re weighing a banana, make sure to exclude the peel.
What’s included in the nutrition facts label for packaged foods?
If you're examining a packaged food item, the opposite question might arise: Does the calorie label cover everything you'll consume, or just the contents of the package? For instance, if you purchase a seasoned rice mix, the instructions may suggest adding butter during cooking.
The FDA mandates that nutrition facts for packaged foods must cover the product's contents—such as the dry rice mix on its own. Additionally, a second column for 'as prepared' nutrition information may be included optionally. This is commonly seen on baking mixes (one column for the mix, another for a slice of cake) or cereals (one for the dry cereal and one for the cereal served with a specific amount and type of milk).
