Choose the entry that describes what you actually have. A matching word is not enough: the food’s state, brand, preparation and serving basis can change the meaning of the result. More digits do not make a mismatched entry accurate.
Start with the food, not the nutrient
If you have a packaged product, read its current label and compare its identity with a branded database entry. For an ordinary ingredient, examine the detailed description of a suitable basic-food entry. For a prepared dish, inspect how the entry describes that dish rather than borrowing a raw ingredient profile.
Data types are not interchangeable badges
FoodData Central’s documentation distinguishes several data types. Foundation Foods and Branded Foods do not obtain every value in the same way. The former provides analytical and descriptive information; the latter includes industry-supplied label information. Neither category means that your exact portion was personally tested by GetMacros.
Save the identification trail
Keep the FDC identifier, description, preparation state, unit and date you consulted it. If an app presents only “chicken,” the omitted details make it difficult to audit the estimate later. Check whether a nutrient is unavailable rather than assuming that an absent field means zero.
Before using an entry for a recipe, confirm that your measured amount has the same edible basis. Bone-in purchased weight and edible meat weight differ; raw and cooked weights can also describe different material states. This is a selection workflow, not a promise of perfect home-meal measurement. The official USDA documentation linked below explains the database categories and why their metadata deserve attention.
Sources and example boundaries
- USDA: FoodData Central documentation
Food-data types have different sources and purposes.
- USDA: Foundation Foods documentation
Food descriptions, portions, missing nutrients and sample variation.
No nutrient values for a specific USDA food are quoted here. This article explains how to choose and document an entry; the database remains the source for the selected food.