In a model where only water is added and no counted ingredients are lost, the calculated batch nutrient totals stay the same while its mass increases. A gram portion then represents a smaller fraction of the batch. Keep the water-only assumption explicit.
A diluted-batch example
Imagine a fictional sauce with 600 calculated calories in 300 g. Adding 200 g water makes 500 g total, assuming complete mixing and no loss. The modeled density changes from 2 to 1.2 calories per gram. The batch still totals 600.
Compare a chosen mass
A 50 g portion of the original calculates to 100 calories. A 50 g portion of the diluted batch calculates to 60. Those portions do not contain the same amount of the original mixture. A 50 g original-equivalent amount would require about 83.3 g of the new mixture under this model.
Check what was actually added
Milk, stock or another liquid may carry nutrients. They cannot automatically use the water-only assumption. Add their documented contributions, then measure the new batch. Likewise, if some sauce stays in the blender, an exact no-loss model may not describe the retained mixture.
The numbers are invented and the sauce was not kitchen-tested. NIST supports mass measurements; FDA supports serving-based ingredient calculations. The original worked example explains why an old per-gram estimate should not be copied after dilution. It does not imply that diluting food is a required dietary strategy.
Sources and example boundaries
- NIST: units of mass
Gram, milligram and kilogram relationships.
- FDA: serving information
Serving sizes and household/metric units on U.S. labels.
All food figures and prices in the worked example are invented to explain the method. They are not restaurant nutrition, tested recipes, shopping prices or personal dietary advice. Use the current label for the product you actually have.