Customer Reviews

EatSmart Digital Nutrition Scale - Professional Food and Nutrient Calculator

5 star:		(262)
4 star:		(95)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I looked at many digital nutrition scales online before purchasing this one. Having Type I Diabetes and being a "carb" counter, it was time for an update and I kept going back to this one and was looking forward to using it. I thought I wanted all the bells and whistles it has to offer. While I like the general size and design for weighing, especially the ease of the tare feature, from then on it goes downhill for me. Visually, I am having great difficulty and my husband, who has excellent eye sight agrees - it is tough to read the LCD display which is considerably smaller than it appears online. Also, it gives so much information that I have found I'm having to ignore what isn't essential for me and fccus on what information I mostly need - carbs plus calories and fats or protein plus calories and fats, etc. You have to go through a progression of button pushing and data entry to get data beyond calories - i.e. carbs and fats. And, feedback is given via different window "groups" of 4 you have to scroll through to get what you want. It just takes so long my food is getting cold or my family impatient while I'm trying to get the information I need for dosing and recordkeeping. I find myself getting frustrated by the whole method as it is, for me, more laborious than I ever anticipated. Then, there is the option of entering information from the food label - one of the aspects I was especially interested in. Maybe it will get easier. That was a big selling point for me and I find the marketing misleading as I thought once I entered all the information from the nutrition label, it would add it to the memory "up to 99". Well, that is not how it works. It will keep items in its memory for counting for a day or week. But, it doesn't keep those products permanently in its memory that I can figure out. So, it's okay but not as user friendly as I thought it would be from all the positive reviews I read - and I do read them.

I researched all the available nutrtion scales on the market and decided on the EatSmart. And what a good choice it's been. It's truly a great product and performs exactly as advertised, providing extensive nutritional information that's not available from any other scale. You'll be amazed at the discrepancies when you compare the actual weight of some foods with what's listed on the nutrition information printed on the package. For example, the information printed for spoon-sized shredded wheat is for a one-cup serving (52 grams). If you weigh the cereal, though, 52 grams is a lot closer to being 3/4 of a cup, not a full cup. Same for potato chips, pretzels and other irregularly shaped foods. And regarding the company that makes the scale: The scale that arrived didn't function properly. I e-mailed the company and within 20 minutes got a phone call from the vice president, who had me do some tests and quickly determined that the scale was defective. He said he'd send a replacement immediately. Sure enough, a new scale arrived as promised and it works perfectly. That's customer service. At any rate, I can't say enough good things about the scale. Like me, I'm sure you'll be pleased if you buy one.

Length:: 4:17 Mins

The two modes of operation (normal scale and calculate -where it determines the nutrition facts for a food based on the Nutrition Facts on the package) make this one a very versatile food scale.

So I had initially bought the Salter 1450 on the recommendation of a friend on an internet message board. While the scale worked fine, the database of foods was impractical (lots of packaged/junk foods) for somebody trying to maintain health with diabetes. Additionally, the search functionality (scrolling through) took more time than it was worth and just created headaches for me.

My local diabetes center recommended the EatSmart to me, and so far i have been thoroughly impressed. Seems to be a much more "professional" approach to this scale, with a database tailored specifically to whole foods and an easy to use interface. Best of all, the nutrition facts calculator is an additional feature that allows me to monitor net carbs with any packaged foods i happen to eat (this can be done with any food, so I make my own healthy 100 calorie snacks!) It also sits nicely on my kitchen counter and looks aesthetically pleasing, unlike the Salter that looked like a laptop and I was ashamed to have around. EatSmart was a little cheaper too so i saved a few bucks. Highly recommended

What a great tool for anyone either working on their weight or having nutritional restrictions of any type! The ability to figure the nutritional value of any food -instead of having to rely solely on a pre-set list- is one of its greatest features.

Amazing how different the totals are when you actually weigh your "approx. 11 chips" worth of junk food. According to the label they should give you, say, 15g of fat. In reality, that can range from 12g to a whopping 20g, depending on the size of the chips/bits you pick out of the bag.

There are a couple of reasons not to give it a solid 5, though I'd have gone for a 4 1/2, if possible:

1) In a kitchen that is not super-brightly lit, a bowl or plate overhanging the digital display makes it hard to read the results. If the light is not shining at just the right angle, you cannot read the numbers.

This could easily be solved by a slightly back-lit display, or -even better- a button which would "lock" the display; by "locking", I mean that it would freeze the display at the last item weighed, even though you remove the item. If that tech detail is added, please make it so that, even though the item is "locked", it does not fully lock the display, but lets you still rotate among the various nut. values/screens for that item (if the scale was in Normal mode, obviously.)

2) Another slight inconvenience: I'd love to be able to add up all the Nut. Values of all the items I am preparing. That is, if I am making a salad and counting calories or fat, I'd love to be able to put a bowl on the scale, add lettuce, measure the calories; add tomatoes, add those calories to the total, add the olive oil, add those calories.... etc, etc.
This would turn it into the single most powerful and complete nutritional tool on the market. I'd pay more for this ability, of course. The company could still continue to offer the basic scale as is now, and then offer another, higher end one, with the above mentioned features.

3) The absolutely ultimate scale, the "One-and-Only-Wet-Dream-Nutritional Scale" would have a nifty little slot for a USB thumbdrive; This way, I could transfer all the data from my Super-Duper-Whhammodyne Scale to my computer, to an equally impressive and superb program, which would keep track of my daily, weekly... etc intakes.

But that is just a dream, I know..... why would anyone give us all we need in just one product, when we can just buy 3 or 4 items to have sit on our counters & desks?

I was very excited to get this scale. As a diabetic it is important to monitor my carb and calorie intake, etc. The first mission I gave my scale was to calculate the nutritional value of my pizza crust recipe. I put my mixing bowl on the scale a reset it to zero. I begin to add ingredients, whole wheat flour, sugar... Wait. I can't find sugar on the "food code list". Really? I read it again. Nope, it's not there. I have to calculate the sugar values manually. I move on. Baking powder. Nope, not there either. I end up having to do a ton of manual calculations to get it right in the end. Hey EatSmart, let's drop some of the things that few people eat like eel and octopus and add some real cooking ingredients to your food code list! Tracking things like sugar is of the highest importance to a diabetic.

Additionally, as has been mentioned, the readout is difficult to see. It might help if you used a surface that doesn't have such a high glare. It might also help if the display was backlit. Displays are cheap these days. Bigger, brighter and easier.

Finally, the scale wobbles on a flat surface. A manufacturing defect I'm sure. You would expect better build quality from an item that costs so much.

While I will still find the scale useful, I can't begin to give this item a good review considering it was so poorly thought out and constructed.

One last comment to EatSmart if you are listening... Build a scale that connects to a computer via USB cable (say 6 or 8 foot) that allows software control and an infinite number of food ingredients. It could allow you to create and save custom ingredients and recipes. Nice try but, it just doesn't cut the mustard, (also not on the food code list).

I was told by my doctor to measure and log my food. I bought a big book with the nutritional values for food and began logging what I ate. For each food I had to look it up in the book, estimate the portion size, grab the calculator, and figure how many carbs, fat, etc., was in the food. I found this process very time consuming and felt like giving up.

Then I bought the EatSmart scale. Now I can measure all the foods I eat in a lot less time! My favorite feature is being able to 'build a meal'. Here are the exact steps for building a meal: put your dinner plate on the scale (press tare which returns scale to zero), put baked sockeye salmon on pate (press 583 which is the code for baked sockeye salmon, press M+ for memory, press tare), put boiled string beans on plate (press 200, press M+, press tare), put baked red potato on plate (press 178, press M+, press tare), put salted butter on potato (press 661, press M+), (press MR/MC to see the total nutritional values of the foods on the plate), (Press MC to clear memory and return the scale to normal mode).

That might seem like a lot of key presses, but it pales in comparison to finding each food in a book, guessing how much it weighs or even weighing it on a scale, calculating each food, writing down each food then calculating it yourself.

I do wish the scale had more memory so there would be more codes and thereby a more comprehensive list of foods that are pre-programmed into the scale.

Thanks to the ease of using this scale I will continue to log my foods and hopefully avoid Type II diabetes.

After many years of trying all kinds of micronutrient-specific diets without too much success (read low-fat first, low-carb later), I decided to simplify and start controlling my overall food intake.I bought a food journal where I record my daily intake. It became obvious that I need a good food scale to measure my portions. It is human to underestimate the amounts of food you consume and I had an inkling I was subconsciously "cheating".

I did read the reviews here and they were extremely helpful. I ordered, and the scale arrived very quickly. It even had the 4 AAA batteries included, which is rare when you buy any kind of electronics. It is cute and stays out on my counter. The glass top is easy to wipe down. It has all the features I need, such as measure nutritional value, the tare feature, the serv feature for measuring the value of prepackaged foods, etc. Can't say enough about the convenience of having the list of 999 foods pre-programmed in the scale. Easy to input, fast to see how many calories, fat, and many other other micro nutrients you are consuming.

Unlike some other customers who thought the display is hard to see, I see it perfectly. Also, please do not complain that the scale cannot measure the nutritional value of any and every food you put on it. It is a scale, not a magic scale. It cannot possibly know exactly how much of what you put in the food while you were cooking, you'll need a lab for that.

Having this scale has been a huge wake up call for me. As I suspected, I was eating much more than I thought I was. My serving was sometimes 2-3 times larger than the intended serving. I have seriously cut down on overeating and mainly thanks to the scale have lost about 6 lbs in the last month without being hungry. I am just choosing better foods and staying within my daily caloric limit.

I would highly recommend it as a prudent investment in your health. Do you pay a reasonable amount now, or do you pay later, many times over, at the doctor's office?

I have had this scale for approximately 6 months, and it has been a Godsend. I am a Type 1 diabetic and practice portion control thru carbohydrate (CHO) counting. It has made it so much easier, and accurate than using a measuring cup for my cereal in the morning, and for counting things that I would otherwise have guessed on, such as pretzels. My partner and I even use it when we buy a bulk meat or other foods, and need to divide it into even portions for zipper bags to freeze for later use.

It has so many uses, that I even use it to weigh my letters, so I can print my postage at home on the USPS Website, and not even stand in line or fill out forms at the Post Office. You don't even need special labels, you just print on paper and tape it on, putting clear tape on everything except the BARCODE Although if you are going to be using it for this a lot, I would recommend you get the half page Avery labels meant for shipping this way. Also, if you have heavy items, I suggest you get a dedicated postal scale. But for large envelopes and small boxes, it is a FANTASTIC convenience item.

Furthermore, I recently had an incident where the scale failed for no apparent reason. I tried replacing the batteries, and doing everything to reset it, but nothing worked. The electronics must just have given out. However, the scale has a long warranty (2 years, "bumper-to-bumper"), so I emailed the manufacturer, and the owner himself, Bill, emailed me and told me not to worry about even sending back the faulty scale, he would get a new scale out to me forthwith. He sent one promptly via FEDEX! You cannot ask for better customer support than that! I do not know if he can do this for everyone, but his customer support via email has been superb, and he backs his product 100%.

I investigated many scales when I was searching, including the Salters, because I wanted the ability to store foods for later calculation of CHO, so I did not have to enter the CHO/OZ or GM every time. However, the scales that perform this function are only capable of calculating 1 serving at a time. With the EatSmart scale, you just put your container on the scale, press TARE (to zero it out), throw on a handful of pretzels (Can you tell that I like them?), input the CHO/g or oz. and get the CHO amount. With the Eatsmart scale, you can do this, but NOT with ANY other, and believe me, I researched the heck out of them! The only thing I wish that the EatSmart would do is store food CHO/serving size (OZ or GM) for foods you commonly measure, so that you could recall it later without having to enter it every time you put a food on the scale. By the way, for measuring serving sizes, if you have the GM and OZ serving size, use the GMs, it is more accurate. You can view some video demos of the scale by going to eatsmartproducts dot com / demo dot php [Replace the "dots" with . and remove the spaces.]

For what it's worth, I don't even try to use the scale to calculate my CHO. I just use a calculator and put as much food as I want on the scale, divide the grams on the scale (say 326g) by the serving grams (56g) to get a serving number, e.g., 5.8 servings, and then multiply that by the CHO per serving (23g) to get my total CHO amount (~134g CHO) for insulin dosing. (Although the scale does these calculations for you if you enter the serving data, I have not yet learned how, so I stick to my "old" ways.) [Also, as an aside, these numbers are just for demonstration purposes only. I would never eat that many carbs at one sitting!]

It is a beautiful scale, just the right size to fit on your countertop, above the microwave, or even a drawer. If you want it to sit out though, it looks great! I cannot say enough good things about this scale.

I hope this helps you choose your nutritional scale. Happy hunting!

I previously had the Salter nutritional scale. It worked fine, when it worked. It started going crazy - with numbers going up and down even when nothing was on the scale. The only way to fix it was to take everything off, turn it over and disconnect the battery. Finally even that didn't always work. So i looked for a new scale and settled on the Eat Smart scale. It works well measuring foods and is easy to use. There are a few things I don't care for. #1 the labels at the bottom for calories, fat, carbs, etc. are very small and sometimes hard to read. #2 the scale takes 2 or 3 seconds to register weight. This can be frustrating when pouring something into a bowl because you have to stop and wait to see what the weight is. I am getting used to it, though. I just pour slowly and wait for the scale to register the weight.

The scale looks very nice. I like the feature that lets me enter the nutritional facts from any label and get the figures for the food weighed on the scale. As long as this scale keeps working I think I will enjoy using it. If they had made the labels on the calculations larger it would have been perfect.