FAQ

Do I need to be connected to the internet to use Foodwatts?

No. Foodwatts is downloaded with a copy of the data so it can be used off line.

What is the source of the data?

The data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, representing over 117 years of research.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2013. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28. Nutrient Data Laboratory

How is the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference compiled?

According to the Standard Reference, Release 28 documentation:

Data have been compiled from published and unpublished sources. Published data sources include the scientific literature. Unpublished data include those obtained from the food industry, other government agencies, and research conducted under contracts initiated by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). These contract analyses are currently conducted under the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP), in cooperation with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other offices and institutes of the National Institutes of Health (Haytowitz et al., 2008).

Haytowitz, D.B., P.R. Pehrsson, and J.M Holden. 2008. The national food and nutrient analysis program: a decade of progress. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 21 (Supp. 1): S94-S102.

Data from the food industry represents the nutrient content of a specific food or food product at the time the data is sent to NDL. The values may change due to reformulations or other processing changes by individual companies between the time that SR is released and the next update of SR.

How are the nutrient values obtained?

Values in the database may be based on the results of laboratory analyses or calculated by using appropriate algorithms, factors, or recipes. Every food item does not contain all of the nutrients/components released in SR. For more information see http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata