Food info: Finding nutrient breakdowns

Screenshot of the main search page for the USDA's National Nutrient Database

With the incredible amount of health information now available, it can be a real challenge separating fact from fiction, particularly when it comes to the nutrient content of individual foods. Hopefully Naturelicious.com will be able to answer a lot of your questions, but if you need to know the breakdown of a specific item, the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference is a great resource. It currently contains information on almost 8,000 items and is regularly updated by a unit of the US Agricultural Research Service.

There is only one drawback with searching the USDA site: the interface is not especially user-friendly. Fortunately, there is NutritionData.com. Nutrition Data uses the core USDA database but presents the results in an easy to understand format using tables and graphs for quick reference. There is also extra analysis not available on the USDA site. One caveat: Nutrition Data supplements its listings with details provided by food manufacturers and other groups. If you wish to check the source, it is given in the footnotes of each results page.

Other details and resources
National Nutrient Database: Main page and direct link
NutritionData.com: Main page

 

One Response to “Food info: Finding nutrient breakdowns”

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  1. Ramazan says:

    Thank you for introducing this. Yes it does seem to be easier to use that the USDA site. I will make some comparisons.

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