There's a lot of truth in what you're saying. But maybe they use calorie intake to mean "calories actually absorbed by your body", and not "calories present in

There's a lot of truth in what you're saying. But maybe they use calorie intake to mean "calories actually absorbed by your body", and not "calories present in the food you put into your mouth"? Just generally speaking it would be difficult to believe that calory absorption doesn't depend on anything.