Potato salad: light vs regular USDA FDC 2709544 vs 2709543
Per 100 g, light reports 3.7 g total fat, while regular reports 11.1 g total fat.
The comparison uses two cited USDA records. Their complete source names, household portions, nutrient values, and FoodData Central links remain visible below.
Record A · FDC 2709544
Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise
Check this record in FoodData Central ↗Highlighted difference
Calories at the same 100-gram weight
Bar length shows the two cited values on one shared denominator. It does not rank either food or establish why they differ.
-
105 kcal - Potato salad, made with mayonnaise 168 kcal
168 kcal
Shared basis: 100 g · kcal
Equal-weight evidence
Nutrition per 100 grams
Both columns use the same mass, which compares nutrient concentration without allowing the two representative source amounts to change the denominator. “A +” or “B +” reports the arithmetic difference between the cited values; it is not a quality score.
On smaller screens, focus a comparison table and scroll horizontally to read every column.
| Nutrient | A · Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise | B · Potato salad, made with mayonnaise | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| CaloriesMaterial difference | 105 kcal | 168 kcal | B +63 kcal |
| Protein | 1.4 g | 1.5 g | B +0.1 g |
| Total fatMaterial difference | 3.7 g | 11.1 g | B +7.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 17 g | 15.8 g | A +1.2 g |
| Dietary fiber | 1.5 g | 1.5 g | Same reported value |
| Total sugars | 1.8 g | 1.3 g | A +0.5 g |
| Sodium | 215 mg | 179 mg | A +36 mg |
| Saturated fatMaterial difference | 0.6 g | 1.8 g | B +1.2 g |
| Potassium | 260 mg | 261 mg | B +1 mg |
| Calcium | 10 mg | 10 mg | Same reported value |
| Iron | 0.3 mg | 0.3 mg | No difference at displayed precision |
Values come from the two cited USDA FoodData Central Survey Foods records. Feast does not average records, impute missing values, or infer a nutrient from the food name.
Read the table by question
Every material primary-nutrient difference on this page is numerically higher in B (2 of 2).
These answers describe concentration per 100 grams. “More” and “less” identify the arithmetic direction only; they do not decide which record is a better match or which food is better for a person.
Which reports fewer calories?
Record A
Record A reports 105 kcal, compared with 168 kcal in the other record—a difference of 63 kcal.
Which reports more protein?
Record B
Record B reports 1.5 g, compared with 1.4 g in the other record—a difference of 0.1 g.
Which reports more fiber?
Same reported value
Both records report 1.5 g of fiber per 100 g.
Which reports less sodium?
Record B
Record B reports 179 mg, compared with 215 mg in the other record—a difference of 36 mg.
What differs in the source descriptions
The exact names carry information the numbers cannot.
USDA assigns both records to “Mashed potatoes and white potato mixtures,” but the topic label is broad. Record A is “Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise.” Record B is “Potato salad, made with mayonnaise.” Feast paired them because their contrast-neutral food identities are an exact match, not merely because they share a generic category.
The controlled name parser found 1 interpretable distinction. These labels organize wording already present in the names; they do not establish that a distinction caused a nutrient difference.
| Description dimension | Record A | Record B |
|---|---|---|
| Light wording | light wording | No matching controlled term in the source name |
Even a clean name contrast can carry hidden companions. A fried record may also include coating; a restaurant record can use a different recipe; a reduced-sodium description can differ in more than salt; and a source amount can reflect a different reporting convention. That is why this page reports the complete pair rather than treating one word as an intervention.
Portion context
A representative source amount is not a shared “serving.”
Record A uses USDA reference amount at 138 g. Record B uses USDA reference amount at 138 g. Those labels and gram weights come from their respective records. They are useful for scaling the chosen profile, but they are not recommendations and need not describe equal amounts.
The representative amounts do not cross Feast’s material portion-difference threshold of both 15 grams and 20%. They are still separate source measures, so the 100-gram table remains the appropriate place for an equal-weight comparison.
A cup, piece, slice, sandwich, fillet, or fluid ounce can have different gram weights across records. A matching label is not enough: check the listed grams. If accuracy matters more than convenience, weighing the food or using a current package label can be more specific than a generic survey-food measure.
Record A measures
- 1 cup275 g
- USDA reference amount138 g
Record B measures
- 1 cup275 g
- USDA reference amount138 g
One shared household label
1 cup: 275 g in A vs 275 g in B
Here the household label and listed gram weight match at displayed precision, so this particular table is also an equal-mass comparison. The values remain specific to these two source records, not a universal weight for every 1 cup.
| Nutrient | A · 275 g | B · 275 g |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 289 kcal | 462 kcal |
| Protein | 3.9 g | 4.2 g |
| Dietary fiber | 4.1 g | 4.1 g |
| Sodium | 591 mg | 492 mg |
USDA source formulation evidence
The listed inputs provide another way to audit the match.
FNDDS includes input-food rows behind each standardized survey-food record. Record A’s leading listed inputs include Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt, Salad dressing, mayonnaise, light, Celery, raw, Vinegar, distilled. Record B’s include Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt, Salad dressing, mayonnaise, regular, Celery, raw, Vinegar, distilled. Ingredient-code overlap is 78%, and normalized listed-input-weight variation is 16%.
Record A · 8 coded inputs
Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise
- Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without saltIngredient code 11367 · open source index73.4% of listed input weight
- Salad dressing, mayonnaise, lightIngredient code 4641 · open source index15.8% of listed input weight
- Celery, rawIngredient code 11143 · open source index3.5% of listed input weight
- Vinegar, distilledIngredient code 2053 · open source index2.6% of listed input weight
- Onions, rawIngredient code 11282 · open source index1.8% of listed input weight
- Mustard, prepared, yellowIngredient code 2046 · open source index1.4% of listed input weight
- Pickle relish, sweetIngredient code 11945 · open source index1.3% of listed input weight
- Salt, tableIngredient code 2047 · open source index0.1% of listed input weight
Record B · 8 coded inputs
Potato salad, made with mayonnaise
- Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without saltIngredient code 11367 · open source index74.4% of listed input weight
- Salad dressing, mayonnaise, regularIngredient code 4025 · open source index14.7% of listed input weight
- Celery, rawIngredient code 11143 · open source index3.6% of listed input weight
- Vinegar, distilledIngredient code 2053 · open source index2.7% of listed input weight
- Onions, rawIngredient code 11282 · open source index1.8% of listed input weight
- Mustard, prepared, yellowIngredient code 2046 · open source index1.4% of listed input weight
- Pickle relish, sweetIngredient code 11945 · open source index1.4% of listed input weight
- Salt, tableIngredient code 2047 · open source index0.1% of listed input weight
7 shared coded inputs
The largest shared entries include Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt, Celery, raw, Vinegar, distilled, Onions, raw, Mustard, prepared, yellow. Shared codes can still carry different listed weights.
1 A-only and 1 B-only coded inputs
A-only entries include Salad dressing, mayonnaise, light. B-only entries include Salad dressing, mayonnaise, regular.
Important: repeated rows carrying the same ingredient code are combined before the shares and overlap are calculated. These weights belong to USDA’s source formulation: they are not a reconstructed plate, final cooked yield, visitor serving, ingredient declaration, or estimate of what is visible in a photo. USDA’s FNDDS documentation explains that these calculation recipes can represent multiple variants, may include retention or moisture adjustments, and are not product-label ingredient lists.
Choosing the closer record
Match context first; scale second.
- 01
Read both names literally
Compare cooking method, coating, edible skin or peel, sauce, additions, venue, source form, and food subtype. For this pair, the full A and B descriptions above are the evidence—not shortened search labels.
- 02
Use listed inputs as a check
If the name still leaves ambiguity, compare the leading and unique source inputs. They can reveal that two near names refer to meaningfully different standardized formulations, but they do not reconstruct your dish.
- 03
Choose an amount for that record
After choosing A or B, use its own named measure and gram weight. Do not transfer a cup, slice, or “typical amount” from the other record as if the measures were interchangeable.
- 04
Account for missing details
Brand, current restaurant recipe, cooking oil, drained weight, toppings, substitutions, and unfinished portions may not be captured. A label or weighed recipe can supersede a generic reference when it better matches the actual food.
Limits and responsible interpretation
This is a comparison of records, not a causal study.
The two records come from 2021–2023 FoodData Central Survey Foods data. The nutrient table faithfully compares their published values on the same weight basis. It does not measure two plates prepared at the same time, isolate one ingredient, or estimate the uncertainty around either value.
For this pair, the source names differ across 1 documented description dimension, while the listed formulations show 78% ingredient-code overlap and 16% normalized listed-weight variation. Moisture, ingredient proportions, preparation, and record construction can therefore move together. The page can describe the combined record difference; it cannot isolate the effect of one word.
A higher or lower number is not an overall verdict. Protein, fiber, sodium, energy, fat, micronutrients, preferences, allergies, budget, portion, and an individual’s goals answer different questions. Feast therefore reports directions and magnitudes without applying a universal “healthier” label.
This page is educational and does not diagnose a condition, prescribe a target, or replace advice from a qualified professional. For an allergy, medically directed diet, or strict ingredient limit, use verified ingredient information and guidance appropriate to that situation.
How this page qualified
A page is published only when the pair clears materiality and diversity gates.
Both records must occupy the same USDA survey-food topic and share a close food identity after a controlled vocabulary separates preparation, edible-part, source, claim, crust, and sauce wording. Exact contrast-neutral identities receive priority. Close ingredient or form substitutions can qualify when name overlap remains high and the numerical evidence is material.
For primary nutrients, Feast requires both an absolute and relative difference: at least 20 kcal and 12% for energy; 2 g and 18% for protein or fat; 5 g and 15% for carbohydrate; 1 g and 20% for fiber; 4 g and 20% for sugars; or 100 mg and 20% for sodium. A focused one-nutrient pair also needs a material representative-amount or formulation distinction. Rounding-only pairs are not published.
Unordered FDC IDs define a canonical pair, so reversing A and B cannot create another page. Each source record can appear twice at most, each USDA topic contributes no more than 40 pages, and closely repeated identity families are capped. Those rules produced a selective comparison library rather than every mathematical combination in the corpus.
Read the complete nutrition-page methodology for import, nutrient mapping, portion scaling, Daily Value, and uncertainty rules.
Decision support from the exact records on this page
Turn source data into a better next decision
These conclusions and reading paths are computed from 2 exact records behind Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise versus Potato salad, made with mayonnaise. Links are chosen by record identity, controlled contrast, formulation input, nutrient spread, or serving context—not by loose keyword similarity.
Equal-weight result
Potato salad, made with mayonnaise is higher in calories per 100 g
Potato salad, made with mayonnaise reports 168 kcal versus 105 kcal for Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise: a 63 kcal difference when both are normalized to 100 g.
Inspect the underlying evidenceThese listed servings have equal weights
2 listed servings each weigh 138 g
The 2 records with a listed serving weight on this page each use 138 g. Their serving totals therefore compare equal weights, even if the household labels differ. Match the preparation and adjust the weight to the amount you eat.
Record identity is part of the estimate
Distinguish “Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise” from “Potato salad, made with mayonnaise”
These are separate USDA records with separate formulations or survey descriptions. Match preparation, additions, and the named household amount before borrowing either record’s nutrients.
Inspect the underlying evidenceContextual knowledge graph
Follow the relationship that matches your question
For Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise versus Potato salad, made with mayonnaise, each path states why the destination belongs here, so you can distinguish a true evidentiary connection from a merely similar label.
Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise and Potato salad, made with mayonnaise are explicitly linked in this guide, which separates direct name matches from contextual variants.
Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Calories: density and serving contextIn this page’s records, calories runs from 105 kcal in Potato salad, made with light mayonnaise to 168 kcal in Potato salad, made with mayonnaise, all per 100 g.
Follow this evidence path A formulation detail that separates records Salad dressing, mayonnaise, lightUSDA input 4641 appears in 1 of 2 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 180–180 g across those source formulations. These are source-formulation input weights, not plated or serving weights. Follow the code to inspect every represented occurrence.
Follow this evidence path A formulation detail that separates records Salad dressing, mayonnaise, regularUSDA input 4025 appears in 1 of 2 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 165–165 g across those source formulations. These are source-formulation input weights, not plated or serving weights. Follow the code to inspect every represented occurrence.
Follow this evidence path Test a nearby record choice Potato salad with egg, made with mayonnaise vs Potato salad, made with light mayonnaisePotato salad, made with light mayonnaise is held as one side of the comparison. The explicit record-description contrast is Light wording: No matching controlled term in the source name versus light wording; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.
Follow this evidence path 2 context records in this source topic Mashed potatoes and white potato mixturesPotato salad, made with light mayonnaise and Potato salad, made with mayonnaise belong to this USDA source-category collection. Its displayed ranges and complete exact-record catalog provide the peer set for a manual comparison; the destination does not preselect this page’s record.
Follow this evidence path Inspect an exact record Potato salad, made with light mayonnaiseOpen the full nutrient table, household measures, formulation inputs, and FoodData Central 2709544 citation for this exact record—not a name-level average.
Follow this evidence path