For teaching and study

Foodlex for universities — free for students

From a recipe, Foodlex calculates the nutrition declaration under the EU Food Information Regulation, derives the 14 allergens from the ingredients and turns both into a finished label. Students of nutrition science, home economics and food technology use it free of charge — unlocked through their university email address.

Unlocked in three steps

Create an account with your university email address — the one you were given at the start of your studies, e.g. firstname.lastname@uni-hohenheim.de.
That’s it. If your university’s domain is enabled, full access unlocks automatically. No application, no questions, no proof of enrolment.
183 days, renewable. After that, unlock once more, as long as the address is still valid.

Create an account

No payment method needed. No card is stored and nothing is charged — not even when the period ends. Access simply drops back to the free tier.

Your university not there yet? Send me a line from your university address at kontakt@foodlex.app — I add the domain, and after that everyone there unlocks access themselves. Go to the list.

What students use it for

Foodlex covers the topics that come up in labelling and product development modules anyway — just without the spreadsheet around them:

Nutrition calculation based on the German Federal Food Key (Bundeslebensmittelschlüssel, BLS 4.0), including preparation losses and per-portion values.
Allergen labelling under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 — the Annex II name is emphasised within the list of ingredients, as Article 21(1)(b) requires.
List of ingredients with QUID figures, compound ingredients, food additives and the date of minimum durability.
Nutri-Score and a product data sheet of the kind retailers and auditors ask for.
Print-ready label as a PDF — for coursework, placements and theses.

Foodlex calculates and formats according to the wording of the regulation, but it does not replace a professional review. Before publication or before a product actually goes on the market, every label should be checked by a qualified professional.

What the EU Regulation puts on the label

This is the reference the Australian and the US page compare against. Four points, each with the wording of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 that creates it. The mandatory declaration is seven values, given per 100 g or 100 ml — Article 30(1) and Article 32(2).

Energy in kilojoules and kilocalories — both, always

Annex XV fixes the units and the order. It names the units for energy as “kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal)” and opens the table with “energy kJ/kcal”. There is nothing to choose: an Australian panel may leave the kilocalorie out and a US panel shows calories only, a European one shows both. The kcal to kJ converter does the arithmetic without an account.

Salt, not sodium — and it is a calculated figure

Article 30(1) lists “fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt”. Salt is not measured but derived: Annex I defines “‘salt’ means the salt equivalent content calculated using the formula: salt = sodium × 2,5”. An Australian panel gives sodium in milligrams instead — the same substance, a different quantity, so the figure cannot be copied across.

Reference intakes for an average adult, not %DV

Where a label carries percentages, Article 32(5) prescribes the sentence that must stand next to them: “Reference intake of an average adult (8 400 kJ/2 000 kcal)”. The Australian %DI works from 8 700 kJ and the US %DV from its own basis — three reference figures for the same idea, which is why a percentage never travels between markets.

Allergens emphasised inside the ingredient list

Annex II lists fourteen substances, and Article 21(1)(b) requires that “the name of the substance or product as listed in Annex II shall be emphasised through a typeset that clearly distinguishes it from the rest of the list of ingredients” — the name, not the whole ingredient. A separate “Contains” line appears only where a product has no ingredient list at all.

These universities are unlocked

As of 21 October 2026 — 37 universities in German-speaking countries, 87 in France, 44 in Australia, 20 in the United Kingdom and 43 in the United States.

BHT Berlin
BOKU Wien
CAU Kiel
ETH Zürich
FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
FH Joanneum
FH Münster
FH St. Pölten
FSU Jena
HAW Hamburg
HES-SO / HEdS
HS Albstadt-Sigmaringen
HS Anhalt
HS Bremerhaven
HS Fresenius
HS Fulda
HS Geisenheim
HS Neubrandenburg
HS Niederrhein
HS Osnabrück
HS Rhein-Waal
HS Weihenstephan-Triesdorf
JLU Gießen
KIT
MLU Halle-Wittenberg
SRH Hochschule für Gesundheit
TH Ostwestfalen-Lippe
TU Berlin
TU Dresden
TU München
Uni Bonn
Uni Hamburg
Uni Hohenheim
Uni Paderborn
Uni Potsdam
Uni Wien
ZHAW
AgroParisTech
Institut Agro (Rennes-Angers, Montpellier, Dijon)
ONIRIS Nantes
UniLaSalle (Beauvais, Rouen)
ISARA Lyon
ESA Angers
Université de Lorraine (ENSAIA Nancy)
Avignon Université
Bordeaux INP
Nantes Université
Paris-Saclay
UBO Brest
UCA Clermont
ULCO Littoral
UPHF Hauts-de-France
Université d’Artois
Université de Bordeaux
Université Bourgogne Europe
Université de Caen Normandie
Université de Lille
Université de Montpellier
Université de Reims
Université de Rennes
Université de Strasbourg
Université Catholique de Lille
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
Aix-Marseille Université
CY Cergy Paris Université
Institut national des sciences appliquées de Toulouse
Institut supérieur international du parfum, de la cosmétique et de l'aromatique alimentaire
Junia
La Rochelle Université
Le Mans Université
Lyon-I université
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
Nîmes université
Sorbonne Université
Toulouse INP
Université Bordeaux Montaigne
Université Bretagne Sud
Université Côte d'Azur
Université d'Angers
Université d'Orléans
Université de Corse Pasquale Paoli
Université de Guyane
Université de Haute-Alsace
Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie
Université de la Polynésie Française
Université de La Réunion
Université de Limoges
Université de Mayotte
Université de Montpellier Paul-Valéry
Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour
Université de Perpignan Via Domitia
Université de Picardie Jules Verne
Université de Poitiers
Université de Rouen Normandie
Université de technologie de Compiègne
Université de Toulon
Université de Toulouse
Université de Tours
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
Université des Antilles
Université Grenoble Alpes
Université Gustave Eiffel
Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne
Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3
Université Le Havre Normandie
Université Lumière - Lyon 2
Université Marie et Louis Pasteur
Université Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne
Université Paris 8
Université Paris Cité
Université Paris Nanterre
Université Paris-Est Créteil
Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas
Université Rennes 2
Université Savoie Mont Blanc
Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
Université Toulouse Capitole
Université Évry Paris-Saclay
VetAgro Sup
École nationale supérieure des sciences agronomiques de Bordeaux Aquitaine
École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort
École nationale vétérinaire de Toulouse
École supérieure d'agro-développement international
Adelaide University (formerly the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia)
Australian Catholic University
Australian National University
Australian University of Theology
Avondale University
Bond University
Central Queensland University
Charles Darwin University
Charles Sturt University
Curtin University
Deakin University
Edith Cowan University
Federation University Australia
Flinders University
Griffith University
James Cook University
La Trobe University
Macquarie University
Monash University
Murdoch University
Queensland University of Technology
RMIT University
Southern Cross University
Swinburne University of Technology
The University of Melbourne
The University of Notre Dame Australia
The University of Queensland
The University of Sydney
The University of Western Australia
Torrens University Australia
University of Canberra
University of Divinity
University of New England
University of New South Wales
University of Newcastle
University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ)
University of Tasmania
University of Technology Sydney
University of Wollongong
University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC)
Victoria University
Western Sydney University
Endeavour College of Natural Health
Le Cordon Bleu Australia
Abertay University
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Coventry University
Cranfield University
Glasgow Caledonian University
Harper Adams University
London Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Northumbria University
Nottingham Trent University
Queen’s University Belfast
Robert Gordon University
Sheffield Hallam University
Ulster University
University of Greenwich
University of Leeds
University of Lincoln
University of Nottingham
University of Reading
University of Surrey
Alabama A&M University (AL)
Brigham Young University (UT)
California Polytechnic State University (CA)
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CA)
California State University, Fresno (CA)
Clemson University (SC)
Colorado State University (CO)
Cornell University (NY)
Iowa State University (IA)
Kansas State University (KS)
Louisiana State University (LA)
Michigan State University (MI)
Mississippi State University (MS)
North Carolina A&T University (NC)
North Carolina State University (NC)
North Dakota State University (ND)
Oregon State University (OR)
Pennsylvania State University (PA)
Purdue University (IN)
Rutgers University (NJ)
South Dakota State University (SD)
Texas A&M University (TX)
The Ohio State University (OH)
Tuskegee University (AL)
University of Arkansas (AR)
University of California-Davis (CA)
University of Delaware (DE)
University of Florida (FL)
University of Georgia (GA)
University of Idaho (ID)
University of Illinois (IL)
University of Maine (ME)
University of Maryland (MD)
University of Massachusetts (MA)
University of Minnesota (MN)
University of Missouri (MO)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (NE)
University of Tennessee (TN)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
University of Wisconsin-Stout (WI)
Utah State University (UT)
Virginia Tech (VA)
Washington State University (WA)

Yours missing? A short email from your university address to kontakt@foodlex.app is enough — the list is extended continuously.

For lecturers and programme directors

The institution has nothing to do. There is no campus licence, no paperwork, no installation and no user administration. Students unlock access themselves; there are no costs and no administrative effort.

If you would like to use Foodlex in a course, you can reach me directly at kontakt@foodlex.app. I come from the industry — product management, product development and quality management — and built Foodlex myself. I am happy to answer questions about the calculation logic or about how individual requirements of the Regulation are interpreted.

Access applies to every address on an unlocked domain, so staff are included too. Anyone preparing the course needs the same range of functions as the students.

Try it without an account

Two tools run in the browser without signing in — good for a first look, or as an exercise during a class:

Nutrition calculator — enter ingredients, get the Big 7 table per 100 g.
Allergen checker — paste a list of ingredients and have the 14 EU allergens marked.

Frequently asked questions

What does Foodlex cost for students?

Nothing. Students at an unlocked university get full Pro access for 183 days, renewable. No payment method is required.

How is access unlocked?

Create an account with your university email address. If the domain is on the list, access unlocks automatically — no application, no questions, no proof of enrolment.

Does the university have to set anything up or pay anything?

No. There is no campus licence, no paperwork and no installation. The institution has nothing to do; students unlock access themselves.

What if my university is not on the list?

A short email to kontakt@foodlex.app from your university address is enough. The domain is then added, and everyone there can unlock access themselves.

Does Foodlex calculate in kilojoules or in kilocalories?

In both. Annex XV of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 prescribes the energy value in kilojoules and kilocalories, in that order, so a European nutrition declaration always reads kJ/kcal. Foodlex sets both; there is nothing to choose.

How does Foodlex mark allergens on a European label?

By emphasising the Annex II name inside the ingredient list — the name itself, not the whole ingredient — as Article 21(1)(b) requires, for example in bold. Annex II lists fourteen substances. A separate “Contains” line appears only where a product has no ingredient list at all.

Can I use Foodlex for coursework, a placement or a thesis?

Yes. The label and the nutrition declaration export as a print-ready PDF, which is what most coursework asks for. Foodlex is a tool, not an approval: it calculates and lays out according to the wording of the Regulation, and a product that actually goes on sale still needs a qualified person to check its label.

Start with your university email