Including Nutrition Information in our Recipes

[Stephanymtr]

I'm creating this issue to in hopes to discuss a bit more on how we are going to integrate an accurate Nutrition label into our recipe pages https://github.com/iteles/blw-baby/issues/25#issuecomment-1132711428

[Stephanymtr]

Nelson suggested creating our own calculator https://github.com/dwyl/learn-tdd and so, I looked through a couple of FoodData Central downloads from FDA website https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/download-datasets.html

I mean, look at the photo above, it's all Greek to me. Unfortunately, I will need a hand creating this calculator.

In order to understand what is required from a calculator, we should learn the basics of that the food/health agency requires.

Format requirements for the new label https://www.fda.gov/media/99151/download

Serving sizes information There is a VERY thorough document on serving sizes https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2004-N-0258-0136 BUT it's way too long compared to this one that gets right to the point: https://www.fda.gov/media/99078/download

In what order should nutrients be listed on the Nutrition Facts label? Calories Calories from Saturated Fat Total Fat Saturated Fat TransFat Polyunsaturated Fat Monounsaturated Fat Cholesterol Sodium Fluoride Total Carbohydrate Dietary Fiber Soluble Fiber Insoluble Fiber Total Sugars Added Sugars Sugar Alcohol[1] Protein Vitamin D Calcium Iron Potassium [1]The specific name of the sugar alcohol (e.g., “Xylitol”) may be declared on the label if only one sugar alcohol is present in the food.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-05-27/pdf/2016-11867.pdf#page=246 There is a sample label on page 33986 showing the order in which the mandatory nutrients and some commonly listed voluntary nutrients are mentioned on food product labels.

I learned that providing vitamins and minerals information is voluntary, so I feel that including that kind information into our recipe labels should be something to be discussed once our calculator is up and going.

I'm not sure how long it'd take to put this together, so in the spirit of "Getting It Done ASAP", I found an online calculator from VeryWellFit. Let me know how you guys feel about using them temporarily.

Once the labeled is ready, there is a "embed this label," button. It'll generate a code that we can insert into our blog. I was hoping we could offer accurate numbers to our readers, but I learned that all calculators are estimates and attempts to PREDICT energy needs. They cannot determine the exact calorie/macronutrient intake needs for an individual with 100% accuracy.

[nelsonic]

@Stephanymtr building a nutrition info calculator and displayer is fun exercise and will definitely require some code. 👩‍💻 We can do it as a mini-project once my current work is finished. 🤞

I've had this idea sitting on my mental backlog for a while ... https://github.com/planutri 🥗

[Stephanymtr]

That's fantastic!! 🎉 Besides taking some more pictures, this nutrition label is the main piece missing to finish my Chia Egg post.