Question 1

Where does this data come from?

Accepted Answer

Most results come from USDA FoodData Central — the US Department of Agriculture's public nutrient database, covering generic whole foods (lab-analyzed Foundation Foods and SR Legacy entries) as well as hundreds of thousands of branded products. USDA has almost no cooked Indian dishes, so common ones — roti, dal, biryani, paneer curries, idli, dosa, and more — come from a separate curated reference table instead.

Question 2

Is this different from the other calculators on this site?

Accepted Answer

Yes — every other tool here runs entirely in your browser with no server call. A real, comprehensive food database is too large to bundle into a page, so this one looks the food up live against USDA's database each time you search. Nothing you search for is stored or logged beyond what's needed to serve the request.

Question 3

Why do the numbers show per 100g instead of per serving?

Accepted Answer

Per-100g is how USDA standardizes nutrient data across every food, which is what makes different foods genuinely comparable — a label's "per serving" can be 30g for one product and 250g for another, which isn't a fair comparison. Set the gram amount for each food you add to the comparison to see it scaled to whatever serving size you actually care about.

Question 4

Can I trust this for tracking a medical diet (diabetes, allergies, etc.)?

Accepted Answer

Treat it as a reference for general nutrition awareness rather than a substitute for medical or dietetic advice — USDA's data is well-sourced, but a branded product's exact recipe can change between when it was measured and when you buy it, and this tool doesn't track allergens specifically. For a medically managed diet, cross-check against the product's actual label or your dietitian's guidance.

Nutrition Lookup & Comparison

Common questions