Kilojoules to calories — the converter for Australian labels
Australian food labels give energy in kilojoules. Most people think in calories. Type a figure into either box below and the other one follows, on the fixed basis 1 Cal = 4.184 kJ. Free, no sign-up, and the sum runs in your browser.
Formula: Cal = kJ ÷ 4.184 · kJ = Cal × 4.184. Calculated in your browser.
The formula, both ways
A kilojoule is the SI unit for energy; a calorie — properly a kilocalorie, written Cal or kcal — is the unit most of us grew up with. The factor between them is fixed, not an estimate:
- kJ → Cal: divide by 4.184 — 1,000 kJ ÷ 4.184 = 239 Cal
- Cal → kJ: multiply by 4.184 — 200 Cal × 4.184 = 837 kJ
For a rough figure in your head, divide the kilojoules by four and take a little off. A 2,000 kJ meal is about 500 by that rule and 478 in fact — close enough to compare two packs in the aisle, not close enough for a label.
Kilojoules to calories — the table
The figures most often looked up, rounded to whole calories.
| Kilojoules | Calories (kcal) |
|---|---|
| 100 kJ | 24 Cal |
| 200 kJ | 48 Cal |
| 300 kJ | 72 Cal |
| 400 kJ | 96 Cal |
| 500 kJ | 120 Cal |
| 600 kJ | 143 Cal |
| 700 kJ | 167 Cal |
| 800 kJ | 191 Cal |
| 900 kJ | 215 Cal |
| 1,000 kJ | 239 Cal |
| 1,200 kJ | 287 Cal |
| 1,500 kJ | 359 Cal |
| 1,600 kJ | 382 Cal |
| 1,800 kJ | 430 Cal |
| 2,000 kJ | 478 Cal |
| 2,500 kJ | 598 Cal |
| 3,000 kJ | 717 Cal |
| 4,000 kJ | 956 Cal |
| 5,000 kJ | 1,195 Cal |
| 8,700 kJ | 2,079 Cal |
Calories to kilojoules — the table
The same conversion the other way round, for when a recipe or an imported pack gives calories and you need kilojoules for an Australian label.
| Calories (kcal) | Kilojoules |
|---|---|
| 25 Cal | 105 kJ |
| 50 Cal | 209 kJ |
| 75 Cal | 314 kJ |
| 100 Cal | 418 kJ |
| 150 Cal | 628 kJ |
| 200 Cal | 837 kJ |
| 250 Cal | 1,046 kJ |
| 300 Cal | 1,255 kJ |
| 400 Cal | 1,674 kJ |
| 500 Cal | 2,092 kJ |
| 600 Cal | 2,510 kJ |
| 800 Cal | 3,347 kJ |
| 1,000 Cal | 4,184 kJ |
| 1,200 Cal | 5,021 kJ |
| 1,500 Cal | 6,276 kJ |
| 2,000 Cal | 8,368 kJ |
| 2,080 Cal | 8,703 kJ |
Why Australian labels use kilojoules
Because the Food Standards Code says so. Standard 1.2.8—6(1) sets out what a Nutrition Information Panel must carry, and it puts the kilojoule first — in its own words, the panel states:
“the *average energy content expressed in kilojoules or both in kilojoules and in kilocalories”
So calories on an Australian pack are optional. Kilojoules are not. That is why the number you are squinting at is almost always four times larger than the one you expected — and why this page exists.
It also explains a second difference from European labels: an Australian panel gives sodium in milligrams, where an EU label gives salt in grams. The seven mandatory values are otherwise the same set.
What the 8,700 kJ on the pack means
Under the per cent daily intake column, Australian panels carry a footnote in a fixed wording:
“Percentage daily intakes are based on an average adult diet of 8 700 kJ”
That is 2,080 Cal — the reference figure the percentages are worked out against, set out with the other reference values in section 1.2.8—8(3). It is a labelling reference, not a recommendation for you: what any one person needs depends on age, size and how much they move. If a snack says 8 %, it means 8 % of 8,700 kJ, not 8 % of what you personally need.
Twenty Australian foods, in kilojoules and calories
Converting a number is one thing; knowing whether it is a lot is another. The values below are per 100 g and come unchanged from the dataset behind the regulator’s own Nutrition Panel Calculator — the same data an Australian label is calculated on.
| Food (per 100 g) | Energy | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Bread, from white flour | 1,053 kJ | 252 Cal |
| Oats, rolled, uncooked | 1,572 kJ | 376 Cal |
| Rice, white, boiled or rice cooker, no added salt | 659 kJ | 158 Cal |
| Pasta, white wheat flour, boiled from dry, no added salt | 572 kJ | 137 Cal |
| Milk, cow, fluid, regular fat (3.5% fat) | 275 kJ | 66 Cal |
| Yoghurt, natural, regular fat (3% fat) | 309 kJ | 74 Cal |
| Cheese, cheddar, natural, regular fat | 1,683 kJ | 402 Cal |
| Egg, chicken, whole, raw | 534 kJ | 128 Cal |
| Chicken, breast, lean flesh, raw | 412 kJ | 98 Cal |
| Beef, mince, regular fat, raw | 710 kJ | 170 Cal |
| Sausage, beef, raw | 988 kJ | 236 Cal |
| Salmon, Atlantic, fillet, raw | 965 kJ | 231 Cal |
| Apple, fuji, unpeeled, raw | 259 kJ | 62 Cal |
| Banana, cavendish, peeled, raw | 412 kJ | 98 Cal |
| Avocado, hass, raw | 653 kJ | 156 Cal |
| Sweet potato, white flesh, peeled or unpeeled, fresh or frozen, baked, roasted, fried, stir-fried, grilled or BBQ'd, no added fat | 575 kJ | 137 Cal |
| Spread, yeast, vegemite | 684 kJ | 164 Cal |
| Chocolate, milk | 2,234 kJ | 534 Cal |
| Biscuit, sweet, chocolate flavoured, commercial | 1,985 kJ | 474 Cal |
| Beer, full strength (alcohol 4-4.9% v/v) | 154 kJ | 37 Cal |
Source: Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Nutrition Panel Calculator dataset (NPC 2026), used under CC BY 4.0. Energy in calories derived from kilojoules at 4.184. The attribution does not suggest that FSANZ endorses Foodlex or this use of the work.
Per 100 g or per serving — read the right column
An Australian panel has two energy figures, and they are not interchangeable. Standard 1.2.8—6(1) requires the quantity per serving and the quantity per 100 g (or per 100 mL for a drink). The serving column is the one that looks reassuring; the per-100 g column is the one that lets you compare two products.
The gap can be large, because the manufacturer chooses the serving size. A cereal at 1,600 kJ per 100 g shows 480 kJ for a 30 g serving — 115 Cal, which sounds modest until you measure what actually lands in the bowl. When you convert a figure from a pack, note which column you took it from.
Kilojoules on a label and kilojoules on a fitness tracker
A bike computer or a rowing machine also reports kilojoules, and the conversion is the same arithmetic — but the two numbers do not mean the same thing. A label states the energy in the food. A trainer states the mechanical work you produced, which is roughly a quarter of the energy your body spent to produce it, the rest becoming heat.
That coincidence is why a cyclist often treats 1 kJ of work as 1 Cal burned: the conversion factor of about 4.2 and a human efficiency of about 24 % nearly cancel out. It is a useful rule for training, and it is not the conversion on this page. For reading a pack, divide by 4.184.
Why the pack sometimes does not add up
Convert the kilojoules on a pack and the calories beside them may be one or two out. That is not a mistake in the maths. Three things cause it:
Rounding happens once, at the end
Section 1.2.8—7(3) has the panel rounded to three significant figures. A value that was 1,847 kJ internally prints as 1,850, and 1,850 ÷ 4.184 is 442 rather than the 441 you get from the unrounded figure.
Energy is calculated, not measured
No one burns the food to find the number. Energy is worked out from the nutrients using the factors in Schedule 11 — so two packs with the same ingredients can differ if their dietary fibre is reported differently.
Some labels use 4.2, not 4.184
Older packs and some imported ones round the factor itself. Over a 2,000 kJ serving that is a difference of about two calories. Harmless in a shop, wrong on a label.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories is 1,000 kJ?
239 calories. Divide any kilojoule figure by 4.184: 1,000 ÷ 4.184 = 239. In the other direction, 1,000 Cal is 4,184 kJ.
How many calories is 8,700 kJ?
2,080 calories. That is the average adult daily intake Australian labels use as the basis for their per cent daily intake column.
Is a calorie the same as a kilocalorie?
In everyday use, yes. The “calories” on a food label are kilocalories — one kilocalorie is a thousand of the small scientific calories. Australian labels write it Cal with a capital C for exactly that reason.
Why does my Australian pack not show calories at all?
Because it does not have to. Standard 1.2.8—6(1) requires kilojoules and allows calories as an addition. Many manufacturers print only the kilojoules.
Is 4.184 or 4.2 the right factor?
4.184 is the defined value. 4.2 is a rounding used in casual conversion; it drifts by roughly two calories over a 2,000 kJ serving, which is fine in a supermarket and not fine on a label.
Can I build a whole Nutrition Information Panel here?
Not on this page — this one converts energy. For the full panel in the Schedule 12 format, with both columns and per cent daily intake, use the Nutrition Information Panel calculator. To work the values out from a recipe rather than type them in, use the recipe nutrition calculator.
Food composition values from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (NPC 2026), CC BY 4.0. There are limitations associated with food composition databases. Food composition data used in the database or databases may represent an average of the nutrient content of a particular sample of foods and ingredients, determined at a particular time. The nutrient composition of foods and ingredients can vary substantially between batches and brands because of a number of factors, including changes in season, processing practices and ingredient source, and methods of calculation. This work is based on Australian data, and Australian data may not be appropriate for use in other countries. This page is general information and does not replace legal advice or a specialist review of your labelling.