How CaloriePlate builds a nutrition profile

Public concepts

1,225

Selectable forms

1,330

Nutrition states

1,466

Required nutrient cells

41,048

The public catalog contains generic, unbranded Basic Foods. The sealed source release contains 1,226 concepts; one is intentionally retained for release auditability but omitted from public product surfaces. Public totals above reflect that exclusion.

Beverages, packaged foods, and restaurant foods are not treated as interchangeable with Basic Foods. Each needs a separate identity, portion, and publication contract before it can be presented as active nutrition data.

CaloriePlate models a food in three layers so that meaningful differences are not flattened into one result.

1. 01

   Canonical concept. The food people recognize, such as apple, with aliases and browse relationships.

2. 02

   Selectable form. A nutritionally meaningful variety, cut, species, or product form tied to source records.

3. 03

   Nutrition state. The preparation represented by the numbers, such as raw, cooked, drained, or dried.

Nineteen abstract public concepts are browse-only parents. They direct people to specific child foods and do not receive an invented default nutrition profile.

The release draws from authoritative food-composition databases, government publications, regulated product labels, laboratory records, and documented literature. The appropriate source depends on the food: a national composition record may be strongest for a common ingredient, while a specific label or primary study may be the closest defensible record for a narrow food form.

Matching considers the named food, scientific or common identity where available, edible portion, preparation, unit basis, and the description of the source item. A prestigious source is not enough when its record describes a different food or state.

Each nutrition state retains source keys, a primary calorie-record description, a record identifier, and match confidence. Food pages expose the contributing source names, authorities, versions, licenses when recorded, and links when available. Source organizations do not sponsor or endorse CaloriePlate.

Every required macro and micronutrient cell carries an origin, source key, confidence value, and direct-reporting flag. The labels describe how a value entered this release; they are not claims that CaloriePlate independently laboratory-tested the food.

source-reported

The value is reported by the matched source record. Energy is source-reported for every published form and state.

estimated

The required value was completed from documented source evidence, rather than reported directly for that exact food state. It should be read as an estimate.

assumed-zero

The release assigns zero under its documented completion rules. It is disclosed separately because an assumed zero is not the same as a source reporting a measured zero.

calculated

The value is derived arithmetically from source-backed inputs under a recorded calculation rule.

Confidence

Confidence records the strength of a source match or derivation in the data contract. It is not a statistical error bar and does not eliminate natural variation between foods.

“Exact calories” means that stored energy comes from the selected source record rather than being reconstructed from the displayed macros. It does not mean every apple, cut of fish, or batch of flour has an identical energy value.

Nutrition is stored per 100 g of the stated edible portion. A custom serving is calculated by multiplying each stored value by the selected gram weight divided by 100. The calculator accepts weights from 1 g to 5,000 g.

Named portions such as “one medium” appear only when a state-specific source provides a gram weight. CaloriePlate does not infer count, volume, or household-serving weights from a different food state.

Forms marked as requiring a preparation never receive a silent default. Nutrition remains unavailable until a state is explicitly selected. The Make Your Own tool sums the selected state and gram weight for each ingredient, then divides totals by the chosen serving count.

Each public nutrition state contains source-backed energy plus five required macros and twenty-three required micronutrients. All 41,048 public required macro and micronutrient cells are populated.

Numerical completeness makes profiles comparable; it does not make every origin equally direct. The provenance labels remain visible precisely because reported and estimated values carry different evidentiary weight. Source dates, sampling methods, cultivars, geography, fortification, and preparation can all affect real food composition.

Basic Foods 2.5 is tied to a sealed source-database checksum:

63dd7eec336459bf4a1040b176a9cf1ff2dcdbc5726d6dbb3d3dc184f5479ab7

The production importer and build checks reject a changed checksum, changed release counts, incomplete preparation policies, missing calories, missing required nutrients, or incomplete provenance. The release passed its gate with 0 blocking errors.

The source release retains 48 source-rounding warnings rather than hiding them. They coexist with 41,132 populated required cells in the sealed release.

Familiar foods use locally hosted, licensed photography. Creator, source page, license, and representative-image rationale are retained in the image records. Rare, obscure, graphic, or visually unhelpful foods may use an intentional emoji treatment rather than a misleading photo.

See the complete image credits for item-level attribution and licensing details.

CaloriePlate is a general reference, not medical advice or a substitute for individualized care. Values describe the selected source record and food state; they can differ from a specific product, restaurant serving, home recipe, growing condition, or laboratory sample.

For allergies, ingredient safety, medication interactions, medical nutrition therapy, pregnancy, feeding children, or any decision where a small difference could matter, rely on the exact product label and an appropriately qualified clinician or registered dietitian. In an emergency, contact local emergency services.

Found something that does not fit the stated food or source? Please use the correction process.