Tool · United States
Recipe nutrition calculator — USDA data
Enter the ingredients of your recipe and their weight in grams. The calculator works out the entries a Nutrition Facts panel needs — calories, total and saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fiber, sugars and protein — from USDA FoodData Central. Free, no sign-up, everything stays in your browser.
Type and pick from the list. Calculated in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.
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Values per 100 g of the ingredients as weighed, without cooking loss and without the 101.9(c) rounding — that belongs on the panel, and our Nutrition Facts label maker applies it.
Three entries a European calculation does not have
This is the practical reason a US label cannot be built from a European nutrition declaration, even with perfect translation: three of the mandatory entries simply are not in it.
| Entry | United States | European Union |
|---|---|---|
| Trans Fat | mandatory — 101.9(c)(2)(ii) | not declared |
| Cholesterol | mandatory — 101.9(c)(3) | not declared |
| Added Sugars | mandatory — 101.9(c)(6)(iii) | not declared |
| Sodium / salt | Sodium, mg | Salt, g |
| Energy | Calories | kJ and kcal |
| Reference | per serving, from a regulated reference amount | per 100 g |
Trans fat and cholesterol come out of the calculation above, because the USDA dataset carries them. Added sugars do not, and they cannot: 101.9(c)(6)(iii) defines them by how they got into the food — sugars put in during processing, syrups, honey, and juice concentrates beyond what the same volume of juice would give. No composition table can tell that from an analysis; only your recipe knows it. That is a figure you supply.
Why per 100 g, when the panel is per serving
Because the per-100-g value is the one that does not depend on a decision you have not made yet. The serving size is not yours to choose — 101.9(b)(2):
“serving size declared on a product label shall be determined from the ‘Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed Per Eating Occasion’ … that appear in § 101.12(b)”
Once the category gives you the reference amount, the panel is this calculation scaled to it — and then rounded. Both steps happen in the label maker, which also handles the part most hand-built panels get wrong: the % Daily Value column has two rounding rules, not one.
What the figure has to survive
US law does not prescribe how you arrive at a value — it prescribes how the value is checked. 21 CFR 101.9(g) sets out a compliance procedure on a composite of 12 subsamples, and splits the nutrients in two:
| Class | Nutrients | The sample must show |
|---|---|---|
| I | added vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber | at least 100 % of the declared value |
| II | naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber | at least 80 % of the declared value |
| — | calories, sugars, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium | no more than 120 % of the declared value |
The asymmetry is the point and it decides how you should round. For the nutrients people are told to limit, declaring too little is the risk; for the ones they are told to get enough of, declaring too much is. A calculated average is a perfectly good starting point — it just has to hold up against your own product.
What the calculation does not do
- No cooking loss. The values are for the ingredients as weighed.
- No added sugars. See above — that comes from the recipe, not from a table.
- No rounding. 101.9(c) rounds in fixed increments; doing it twice makes figures drift.
- No serving column and no % Daily Value. Both need the reference amount first.
- No allergens. They come from the ingredients — the nine are in 21 U.S.C. § 321(qq), and we work through them in the Big 9 guide.
From these figures to a finished panel
- Calculate the averages here.
- Correct for cooking loss, if your process has any.
- Find the reference amount for your category in § 101.12(b) and scale to the serving.
- Lay out the panel and round — the label maker does both, and both % Daily Value rules.
- Add the rest: name of the food, net quantity, ingredient list, the “Contains” statement, and your business address.
Frequently asked questions
Which food composition data should a US label use?
USDA FoodData Central — the public-domain dataset this page works with.
Can I calculate the values, or do I need a laboratory?
You may calculate them. 101.9(g) defines how the label is checked, not how the number was produced.
Why does this page show per 100 g when the panel is per serving?
Because the serving size comes from the reference amounts in § 101.12(b), and per 100 g is the figure that does not depend on it.
Does this page apply the FDA rounding?
No, on purpose — rounding belongs on the panel, once.
Does it give me trans fat and cholesterol?
Yes, where the USDA dataset has them. Both are mandatory on a Nutrition Facts panel.
Does cooking loss change the figures?
Yes, and this page does not model it.
Nutrient values from USDA FoodData Central (public domain). Wording quoted from 21 CFR 101.9 and 21 CFR 101.12 in the eCFR edition of 1 October 2026. The calculated figures are averages of the ingredients as entered; 101.9(g) measures a label against the product itself, so whether they hold up depends on your recipe and your suppliers. Meat, poultry and egg products follow USDA rather than FDA rules. This page is information, not legal advice — the responsibility for a label stays with the business that puts the food on the market.