Frequently asked questions

Most of the nutrient values are taken directly from the USDA database.

A small percentage of the nutrient values are not taken directly from the database, but are instead computed based on the values of other nutrients. Those nutrients and the methods used to compute them are listed below:

Nutrient Method
Net Carbohydrate(g)
The total carbohydrate minus the dietary fiber present in this food. Sugar alcohols would also be used in this calculation, but are missing from the data.
Amino Acid Score(%)
We first calculate the amount of each of the nine essential amino acids per gram of protein in each food. As is common when performing this calculation, the conditionally essential amino acids, cysteine and tyrosine are combined with methionine and phenylalanine, respectively. Therefore, the nine values we take are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, (cystine + methionine), (tyrosine + phenylalanine), threonine, tryptophan, and valine. We then divide each of these values by the amount of the same amino acid in a gram of whole egg protein (FDC ID 171287). This gives us a ratio for each amino acid. We then take the lowest of these ratios, the limiting amino acid, and multiply it by 100 to get the amino acid score. Note that this calculation requires a complete amino acid profile. If the food does not have a complete profile, it won't have an amino acid score.
Micronutrients(%)
The average percentage of the selected nutrient targets defined for sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, fluoride, choline, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, biotin, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin A, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin D, and vitamin K that are met by this food.
Vitamins(%)
The average percentage of the selected nutrient targets defined for vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, biotin, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin A, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin D, and vitamin K that are met by this food.
B Vitamins(%)
The average percentage of the selected nutrient targets defined for vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, biotin, folate, and vitamin B12 that are met by this food.
Fat Soluble Vitamins(%)
The average percentage of the selected nutrient targets defined for vitamin A, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin D, and vitamin K that are met by this food.
Minerals(%)
The average percentage of the selected nutrient targets defined for sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and fluoride that are met by this food.
Electrolytes(%)
The average percentage of the selected nutrient targets defined for sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium that are met by this food.
Vitamin E(mg)
The various vitamin E isomers exist as separate nutrients in the database, so we add the four tocopherols and four tocotrienols to get a total.
Vitamin K(μg)
As with vitamin E, the different forms of vitamin K exist separately in the database, so we add them to get a total.

Nutrition recommendations are made by various organizations and government agencies around the world. It can be helpful to think of the amount of a nutrient in a food in terms of one of these recommended amounts, rather than an absolute value. For example, "this food contains 1mg of iron per 100g" compared to "this food contains 10% of the recommended daily intake of iron per 100g".

WhatYouEat contains the following nutrition recommendations:

Daily Value
Daily Values are a set of reference values for nutrients that are used in nutrition labeling to help consumers understand the nutritional content of foods in the context of a total daily diet.
Dietary Reference Intake
Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are a set of nutrition guidelines issued by the National Academy of Medicine. We include its Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) and Adequate Intakes (where no RDA is established) for each life stage.

The specific nutrient values recommended in each of these groups is as follows:

Nutrient Daily Value (DRI) Female 9 - 13 y/o (DRI) Female 14 - 18 y/o (DRI) Female 19 - 30 y/o (DRI) Female 31 - 50 y/o (DRI) Female 51 - 70 y/o (DRI) Female 70 y/o > (DRI) Male 9 - 13 y/o (DRI) Male 14 - 18 y/o (DRI) Male 19 - 30 y/o (DRI) Male 31 - 50 y/o (DRI) Male 51 - 70 y/o (DRI) Male 70 y/o > (DRI) Female 14 - 18 y/o - Pregnant (DRI) Female 19 - 30 y/o - Pregnant (DRI) Female 31 - 50 y/o - Pregnant (DRI) Female 14 - 18 y/o - Lactating (DRI) Female 19 - 30 y/o - Lactating (DRI) Female 31 - 50 y/o - Lactating (DRI) Child 1 - 3 y/o (DRI) Child 4 - 8 y/o (DRI) Infant 0 - 6 m/o (DRI) Infant 7 - 12 m/o
Calcium(mg)
1300
1300
1300
1000
1000
1200
1200
1300
1300
1000
1000
1000
1200
1300
1000
1000
1300
1000
1000
700
1000
200
260
Iron(mg)
18
8
15
18
18
8
8
8
11
8
8
8
8
27
27
27
10
9
9
7
10
0.27
11
Magnesium(mg)
420
240
360
310
320
320
320
240
410
400
420
420
420
400
350
360
360
310
320
80
130
30
75
Phosphorus(mg)
1250
1250
1250
700
700
700
700
1250
1250
700
700
700
700
1250
700
700
1250
700
700
460
500
100
275
Potassium(mg)
4700
2300
2300
2600
2600
2600
2600
2500
3000
3400
3400
3400
3400
2600
2900
2900
2500
2800
2800
2000
2300
400
860
Sodium(mg)
2300
1200
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
1200
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
1500
800
1000
110
370
Zinc(mg)
11
8
9
8
8
8
8
8
11
11
11
11
11
12
11
11
13
12
12
3
5
2
3
Copper(mg)
0.9
0.7
0.89
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.7
0.89
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.9
1
1
1
1.3
1.3
1.3
0.34
0.44
0.2
0.22
Manganese(mg)
2.3
1.6
1.6
1.8
1.8
1.8
1.8
1.9
2.2
2.3
2.3
2.3
2.3
2
2
2
2.6
2.6
2.6
1.2
1.5
0.003
0.6
Selenium(μg)
55
40
55
55
55
55
55
40
55
55
55
55
55
60
60
60
70
70
70
20
30
15
20
Fluoride(μg)
-
2000
3000
3000
3000
3000
3000
2000
3000
4000
4000
4000
4000
3000
3000
3000
3000
3000
3000
700
1000
10
500
Vitamin B1(mg)
1.2
0.9
1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
0.9
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.4
0.5
0.6
0.2
0.3
Vitamin B2(mg)
1.3
0.9
1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
0.9
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.6
1.6
1.6
0.5
0.6
0.3
0.4
Vitamin B3(mg)
16
12
14
14
14
14
14
12
16
16
16
16
16
18
18
18
17
17
17
6
8
2
4
Vitamin B5(mg)
5
4
5
5
5
5
5
4
5
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
7
7
7
2
3
1.7
1.8
Vitamin B6(mg)
1.7
1
1.2
1.3
1.3
1.5
1.5
1
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.7
1.7
1.9
1.9
1.9
2
2
2
0.5
0.6
0.1
0.3
Vitamin B12(μg)
2.4
1.8
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
1.8
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.8
2.8
2.8
0.9
1.2
0.4
0.5
Folate(μg DFE)
400
300
400
400
400
400
400
300
400
400
400
400
400
600
600
600
500
500
500
150
200
65
80
Vitamin C(mg)
90
45
65
75
75
75
75
45
75
90
90
90
90
80
85
85
115
120
120
15
25
40
50
Choline(mg)
550
375
400
425
425
425
425
375
550
550
550
550
550
450
450
450
550
550
550
200
250
125
150
Vitamin A(μg RAE)
900
600
700
700
700
700
700
600
900
900
900
900
900
750
770
770
1200
1300
1300
300
400
400
500
Vitamin D(μg)
20
15
15
15
15
15
20
15
15
15
15
15
20
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
10
10
Alpha-Tocopherol(mg)
15
11
15
15
15
15
15
11
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
19
19
19
6
7
4
5
Vitamin K(μg)
120
60
75
90
90
90
90
60
75
120
120
120
120
75
90
90
75
90
90
30
55
2
2.5

The USDA database contains a lot of foods, which is great, but can also make it harder to find relevant entries. Therefore, we decided to select a smaller list of foods.

Some of the factors that we considered when choosing which foods to "curate" were:

  • The food should have a large number of defined nutrient values
  • The food should be "atomic", or likely to appear as an ingredient on a recipe
  • The food should not be branded
  • If there are multiple similar entries, select the least processed one. This might mean uncooked, unsalted etc.
  • Is the food entry linked to from a Wikipedia article? If so, it's probably worth including

Please get in touch if you think we have missed a food.

The USDA defines a food category for every food in its database. You'll see these categories tagged as "USDA" on the site.

A limitation with the USDA food categories is that a food only belongs to one category. For example, whey protein isolate is categorized as a beverage by the USDA. This is correct, of course, but whey protein isolate is also a dairy product. We wanted to expand the food groups to add custom groups and to allow a food to belong to multiple groups.

We also wanted to make it easier for people following specific diets, such as vegetarianism and veganism, to be able to find foods.

We hope to be able to expand these food categories over time. If you would like to suggest the addition of a new food category or the modification of an existing category, please contact us.

Note: when a custom food group is defined it is only done so for curated foods, not all foods in the database.