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Understanding Nutrient Data

How to read and interpret the nutrition information for foods

4 min readUpdated Sep 2, 2026

Every figure on a food page is per 100 grams of the food as its source

reported it. This article walks the page from top to bottom.

The header

The food's name, then badges: "Branded" for a packaged product, "Regional

dish" for an entry from the regional catalogue, and otherwise the source's own

data type. A cuisine or region badge is a link back to the search, filtered to

it. Signed in, the header offers Log food, Add to favorites, Add to

collection and Share this food.

Signed in, the page can also show what your own logs say about this food: a

"Usually …" pill with the median portion you have logged it at, from your last

90 days once you have logged it three times, and a "Logged on X of last 7 days"

pill when it has become a habit.

Nutrition facts

Laid out like a package label:

  • Calories, then total fat with saturated fat under it, cholesterol, sodium
  • Carbohydrates with fiber and sugar under them, then protein
  • Calcium, iron and potassium
  • The panel reads "Per 100 g". When the source reports a serving of its own — a

    package's serving size, a USDA household measure — it is shown beneath as

    "Typical serving" with its gram weight, but the figures stay per 100 g. To see

    a different amount, open Log food: the dialog takes any amount and unit the

    food knows and scales the figures as you type.

    Nutrient figures are shown to signed-in readers. Signed out, the panel offers

    Sign in to view.

    The % Daily Value column

    Each row's percentage is the share of a fixed daily reference amount:

    NutrientDaily reference Total fat78 g Saturated fat20 g Cholesterol300 mg Sodium2,300 mg Carbohydrates275 g Fiber28 g Sugar50 g Protein50 g Calcium1,300 mg Iron18 mg Potassium4,700 mg

    These are the label reference values for a 2,000-calorie day, as the footnote

    under the panel says. They are not your targets: your own targets live on your

    dashboard, and your personal score is what reads the food against them.

    Micronutrients

    Below the label, a food whose source reported vitamins and minerals beyond the

    three above lists them with their units. Which ones appear depends entirely on

    the source: USDA reference foods carry dozens, a packaged product often carries

    only what its label prints, and a national table carries whatever that table

    measured.

    A dash is not a zero

    A value the source did not report is shown as "—". It means "not measured",

    never "none": a packaged snack with a dash for potassium may well contain some.

    A real zero is shown as 0.

    Suitability by health condition

    Some foods carry ratings for specific health conditions, shown as stars out of

    five with the words Excellent, Good, Moderate, Caution and Avoid. These are

    stored on the food, not computed for you; the article on

    Food Health Ratings explains

    which foods have them and how they differ from your personal score.

    Ingredients and data source

    A packaged product shows its ingredients list as the source published it.

    Every food page ends with its data source: the publisher's name, a USDA FDC ID

    or a barcode where the food has one, and, for USDA and Open Food Facts foods, a

    View on link to the publisher's own page for that food. The national

    composition tables have no per-food pages, so those foods name their table and

    offer no link.

    Medication warnings

    Signed in, with medications on your profile, a food that interacts with one of

    them shows a warning above the label: the medication, the reason, and the

    source. A critical warning opens over the log dialog and must be acknowledged

    with I've read this — continue before the food can be logged. See

    Contraindication Warnings.

    On the phone

    The database food screen shows the name, category, cuisine and region, the four

    headline figures, the per-100 g nutrient list and the suitability chips out of

    five. A regional dish additionally shows its special markers: purine, oxalate,

    FODMAP, glycemic index and histamine levels, and whether it contains gluten or

    lactose.


    Related Articles:
  • Food Health Ratings
  • Where Food Data Comes From
  • Tagsnutritionnutrientsdatamacrosvitaminsminerals
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