Guidelines for Recipe Information and Calculation of Nutrient Composition of Prepared Foods (Dishes)

Nutrient composition data of dishes and other prepared foods are lacking. As it is virtually impossible to analyse every dish and other prepared food items, calculation of nutrient content is still the method of choice. Best agreement of analytical and calculated data is achieved, when changes in weight and nutrient during preparation (cooking) are taken into account. The calculation of the nutrient composition is based on the quantity of ingredients for the preparation of 100 g edible portion of dish in ready-to-serve condition, on the data of nutrient content per 100 g edible portion of ingredients and using nutrient retention factors. Recipe information and the algorithm needed for recipe management and calculation of nutrient composition of dishes are described and illustrated by examples.