Oops! eTools Bugs

The good news is that we transitioned to a new eTools database last week, adding over 100,000 food and meal items. The not-so-good news is that we encountered a number of unexpected issues that we’re now working feverishly to fix.

We hope you will accept our humblest apologies! We certainly didn’t anticipate the negative impact that the transition could have.  We are truly sorry and we promise to give you more advance notice of these kinds of changes in the future.

In the meantime, we are doing our best to communicate known issues and their updates via the What’s New Blog (weightwatchers.com/whatsnewblog). We encourage you to check this blog for updates. Below are some top questions and concerns and how to address them:

The issue: Some branded products (including WW ones) are missing.

The fix: We will add these items back in within a week. Many Weight Watchers products are still searchable in the Tracker; other missing products will come shortly.  If you or other members have questions regarding specific missing products, please email ReportAFood@weightwatchers.com.

The issue: Chicken thigh jumped in PointsPlus® values.

The fix: Many of our generic foods are based on data from the USDA. When they make updates to their database, we follow suit! One recent such update is that the average chicken thigh is now 116 grams or 4 ounces, resulting in a higher PointsPlus value. We updated our generic foods data—baked potatoes are another example—to reflect the current food market. We didn't realize that the changes were so extensive, but thanks to your feedback we can now identify the specific foods.

The issue: Favorites and frequently used items were lost.

The fix: We are adding back a number of Favorites that disappeared, including grilled chicken breast, carrots, and egg whites. If you need those foods now, please know that they are often still available in the database! The easiest fix at this time is to search for them and add them back into your Favorites.

The issue: New items do not show up in the Mobile App.

The fix: New items will be visible in the Mobile App after the next release, coming soon!

The issue: Some foods are greyed out.

The fix: Recipes with greyed-out foods still have accurate PointsPlus values, but you may wish to edit them, replacing the greyed-out ingredients with equivalent ones that are in the database. The greying out of ingredients happened when old entries were replaced with new ones.

The issue: Some PointsPlus values are incorrect.

The fix: Please send your specific concerns about incorrect PointsPlus values to ReportaFood@weightwatchers.com.

The issue: Basic items (e.g., Diet Coke) are difficult to find in the database.

The fix: We are addressing this in the coming week.  In the meantime, try modifying your searches.  Look for “Diet Coca-Cola” instead of “Diet Coke" or use the Find and Explore search button in our Plan Manager to seek out specific brands.

Thank you for your patience as we make these upgrades!