Shop’NCook Blog

Shop’NCook software comes with about 2000 grocery items, most of them with nutritional data. It is sufficient for many purposes, but does not cover everything. Occasionally, you will encounter ingredients not in the database. This post shows step by step how easy it is to add an ingredient to the database and include it in the nutritional analysis of your recipes.

1. Adding an ingredient to the database

Display the Shopping List manager tab, click on the Edit button to open the database editor. Select “Extended List” in the Tools menu to display all the categories and items of the database. Choose the appropriate category. Click on the NewItem button and type the new item name. In the Pro edition, you can also input the cost information to include the ingredient in your cost calculations.

Click on OK to save the change to the database.

2. Accessing the nutritional information

Locate the new item in the Shopping List panel and click on the question mark next to it.

This will open the nutritional information window (still empty). Click on the Edit button to reach the nutritional information editor.

In the Nutritional information editor, you can add the nutritional data and the unit conversion data.

3. Adding nutritional data

You input the nutritional data in the bottom area of the Nutritional information editor window. The default quantity of the ingredient is 100 g. If you want to input the nutrient values for another quantity, make sure  to first set the correct ingredient quantity and click on Apply. Input then the nutritional values corresponding to the quantity selected.

When you don’t know the value of a nutrient, leave it just empty. A good place to find the nutritional values of your ingredients is the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

4. Adding unit conversion data

Unit conversion data allows Shop’NCook to compute the nutritional information of ingredients for a vast number of quantities and units of measure.

For example: Ginger snaps in recipes is often specified in number of pieces, like: 3 ginger snaps. In order to compute the nutritional facts, Shop’NCook needs to know the weight of the cookies. This information is input in the top part of the nutritional editor window. Click the Add button in the Unit information area to add Unit conversion information. Type the name of the unit and the corresponding weight. For no unit, type “each” or leave empty. Click then OK to save the unit.

In the same way, you can input the weight of one cup of crumbs. Note that it is enough to add the weight of one volume unit (like cup). Shop’NCook will deduct from it the weight of all the other volume units.

Here is below the completed nutrition editor window:

Click then on Save to save the nutritional information.

The new ingredient can now be correctly included in the nutritional analysis and costing of the recipes. Here is a recipe as example to conclude this post:

GINGER SNAP PIE CRUST

Yield: 8  servings  of 1/8 of 9 inch pie crust
Total food cost: USD2.24
Food cost per portion: USD0.28

1 1/2 c.    ginger snaps crumbs
2 tbsp.    sugar
1/4 c.    butter, melted

Combine ginger snaps and sugar in a small bowl. Add butter, mix well. Press mixture into bottom and sides of a lightly greased 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool. Yield: one 9 inch pie crust.

Nutritional facts per serving (daily value): Calories 163kcal; Protein 1g (3%); Total Fat 8g (12%)(Sat. 4g (18%)); Chol. 15mg (5%); Carb. 22g (7%); Fiber 1g (2%); Sugars 8g; Calcium 20mg (2%); Iron 2mg (9%); Folate 21µg; Vit. B12 0µg (0%); Trans fat 0g
———-

Exported from Shop’NCook Pro 3.4.3

I have added support for the optional vitamins and minerals in the free nutritional facts labeling tool. In order to add an optional vitamin or mineral, select first the checkbox “Include optional vitamins or minerals” to display the list of optional vitamins and minerals, then select the checkboxes next to the nutrients you want to add to the nutrition fact label.

The optional vitamins and minerals that are supported now are:

• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
•  Vitamin K
• Thiamin
• Riboflavin
• Niacin
• Vitamin B6
• Folate
• Vitamin B12
• Biotin
• Pantothenic acid
• Phophorus
• Iodine
• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Selenium
• Copper
• Manganese
• Chromium
• Molybdenum
• Chloride

I went yesterday to a barbecue organized by the parents of my eldest daughter’s class and brought a plum tart to share - a traditional Swiss summer pie. About half of it had been eaten when my husband sprayed generously the remaining slices with unsweetened whipped cream. The whipped cream matches well the bitterness of the plums and is also a traditional topping.

This action created a commotion among the moms and nobody took another slice. The consensus among the parents was: whipped cream is too fattening.

Here is the picture of the pie below. What do you think?

Would YOU eat it?

Consider well: the thick layer of whipped cream, the healthy fruits, the custard and the crust. Then, stack it up against your dietary goals. Then decide. Would you eat it with the whipped cream? And how about without? (Write your answer in the comments before reading on!)
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Combining recipes is a powerful feature of Shop’NCook software that makes it easy to reuse recipes by combining them with other recipes, like recipes for sauce or dough that may be common to several preparations. Combining recipes makes it easier to manage your collection, as you only have to make changes in one place to update all the recipes using this preparation.

A recipe that includes other recipes looks as follows:

The ingredient “hollandaise sauce” is underlined to show that it links to a recipe.

If you click on Hollandaise sauce, the following recipe opens, correctly scaled to the required quantity:

Also, the nutritional analysis of the Brussels sprouts recipe, the list of ingredients to add to the shopping list, as well as the cost estimate include the ingredients of Hollandaise sauce.

(more…)

Trans fat has been added to the free online nutrition facts panel tool, to comply to FDA amendment to section 101.9(c), requiring that trans fat content is added to the nutrition facts panel below the saturated fat. More info…

I had this question in the back of my mind for a while:

“Do my children have enough Calcium in their diet?”

Something brought recently this question to the front of my mind: a woman who helps me at home slipped and broke a wrist. She is in her fifties and has osteoporosis. Googling it, I found that osteoporosis can be caused by a lack of calcium during childhood.

My children are eating regularly cheese, sometimes yogurt, drinking some milk. I had long assumed that in addition to the calcium found naturally in their non-dairy meals, this was enough to cover their needs.

Surely, you don’t actually expect children to drink one liter (= 4 cups) of milk every day like is recommended by the doctors? I mean, do your children drink that much milk? Mine certainly don’t, especially my oldest daughter (6 years old) who has some lactose intolerance and doesn’t drink more than a quarter of a cup at a time.

About one month ago, I tracked their diet during a few days with Shop’NCook Menu. I made sure to input every single food they ate, measured every bit of cheese, yogurt or milk they had. The result? Their needs in calcium were not covered. Way not.

Non-dairy products were covering less than a quarter of their needs, dairy products maybe another quarter but not even that every day. I had to more than double their calcium intake.

I took action in three ways:

1. Introduce non-dairy products with higher calcium content in the diet;
2. Increase the intake of dairy products;
3. Make the children responsible of monitoring their own calcium intake.

1. Introducing non-dairy products with higher calcium content

I started replacing products with low-calcium content by similar products with higher calcium content:

• whole-wheat bread and pasta instead of bread and pasta made with white flour, since whole wheat flour has more than twice the calcium content of white flour;
• orange juice with calcium instead of plain orange juice;
• tahini (sesame paste) instead of peanut butter;
• sesame seeds rather than pumpkin or sunflower seeds;
• supplements with minerals and calcium, instead of just vitamins.

2. Increasing dairy products intake

I made sure to give every day at least one dairy snack, like a bowl of cheese dices or a yogurt, and insisted the children drink more milk at breakfast and before sleeping.

The tough part was to get my older daughter take enough calcium without increasing her milk consumption as it gives her stomachache. After some research, I found that lassi (a drink made with 2 part of yogurt and 1 part of water) is a good substitute for milk as it has almost the same calcium contents and bifidus yogurt is usually well supported by persons who have lactose intolerance. The problem: she didn’t like the taste. I started experimenting with different flavors to make it more palatable, and settled finally on 1 tablespoon of sugar and a few drops of lemon essence per glass of lassi. It was a hit and now my daughter enjoys drinking it everyday (and I drink one with her too).

Here is my lemon lassi recipe (from Shop’NCook online recipe database):

Lemon lassi
Nb persons: 2
Portion size: 3/4 cups

My six-year-old daughter is lactose intolerant. I looked for alternative calcium source. I found out (with Shop’NCook program!) that lassi has almost as high a calcium content as milk. But my daughter didn’t like its plain yogurt taste. I experimented with different flavoring and with her help developped the recipe below that she really enjoys. Tip: DON’T try to flavor lassi with chocolate, yuck!

• 1 cup plain yogurt, (I use acydophilius bifidus)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp lemon extract, (or to taste)

Blend well with a hand mixer. Serve when foamy.

3. Monitoring of the calcium intake by the children

How do you monitor kids who have free access to the fridge, run all day long and share their food with the neighbor’s kids?

You don’t.

You teach them to monitor themselves. I explained them why they need calcium. Then I designed a simple system to count the calcium intake: I put a paper on the fridge where the children can write points for every days of the week. For each “calcium portion”, they are allowed to write a point. A calcium portion can be:

• 1 small glass of milk (half a cup);
• 1 small glass of lassi (half a cup);
• 1 small glass of calcium-fortified orange juice (half a cup);
• a little bit of cheese like half a mini babybel or two small slices of cheese;
• a pot of yogurt (half a cup);
• 2 slices of whole wheat bread;
• 1 bowl of ice cream (about 3/4 cup).

Nutrition supplement is half a point and they can use it to complete to one point once a day when they take less than a calcium portion of something.

The goal is to have at least 8 points at the end of each day. When they do, they can put a sticker.

My children took enthusiastically to this game and they have been doing it more than three weeks now. They select calcium-rich options when they have the choice (vanilla ice cream over sorbet, whole-wheat bread over white bread, calcium-fortified orange juice over plain orange juice) and even my three years old is talking very knowledgeably of the calcium content of different types of food. Maybe they will continue it a few more weeks. And maybe - who knows! - it will change their eating habits for their lives…

If you have some tips to share on this subject, write them in the post comments. I would love to read them.

References:

• Recommended daily intake of calcium
• List of dairy-free food with high calcium content

A few people have asked me for a software to print Food Nutrition Facts Labels to use in conjunction with Shop’NCook nutritional analysis. I made some research, but couldn’t find a free nutrition facts labeling tool on the internet. As far as I can tell, there isn’t any nutrition facts labeling software at all on the Mac OS X platform and the couple of programs I tried on Windows produced good-looking labels, but they did not follow the complex FDA rules.

To fill this gap, I have written a free tool to make nutrition facts labels. It is easy to use and online, so you don’t need to download anything. Click the button below to get started or continue to read if you want more information.

What does it do?

You input the nutritional values for the different nutrients on the form and it will format them according to the FDA code, section 101.9, that implements the provisions of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990.

Update 6 Jan 2008: it implements now also the amendment of July 11, 2003 about trans fat, effective January 1st 2006.

What is the serving size?

FDA rules has strict instructions on selecting the size of a serving. If you are not sure what is the serving size of your product, check the regulations.

What nutrients must be input in the form?

You must input the following compulsory nutrient values:

• total calories
• calories from fat
• total fat
• saturated fat
• trans fat
• cholesterol
• sodium
• total carbohydrate
• dietary fiber
• sugars
• protein
• vitamin A
• vitamin C
• calcium
• iron

Additionally, some voluntary nutrients can be added. The only voluntary nutrient supported at the time being by the form is sugar alcohol. If you need other voluntary components, let me know and I will add them as time allows.

Update 24 March 2009: I have added now support for all the optional vitamins and minerals. To add an optional vitamin or mineral, first select the checkbox “Include optional vitamins or minerals”, then select the checkboxes next to the minerals or vitamins you want to include.

Update 14 June 2009: I have added now support also for polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat and potassium. To add them or sugar alcohol to the label, select “Include voluntary components”, check the boxes next to the components you want to include, and input their values.

What are the voluntary components of the nutrition facts panel?

The voluntary components are:

• calories from saturated fat
• polyunsaturated fat
• monounsaturated fat
• potassium
• soluble fiber
• insoluble fiber
• sugar alcohol (for example, the sugar substitutes xylitol, mannitol and sorbitol)
• other carbohydrate (the difference between total carbohydrate and the sum of dietary fiber, sugars, and sugar alcohol if declared)
• percent of vitamin A present as beta-carotene
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K
• Thiamin
• Riboflavin
• Niacin
• Vitamin B6
• Folate
• Vitamin B12
• Biotin
• Pantothenic acid
• Phosphorus
• Iodine
• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Selenium
• Copper
• Manganese
• Chromium
• Molybdenum
• Chloride

Can the online nutrition facts tool be used for every kind of food?

No, it cannot be used in any of the following three cases:

1. If the food is not targeting the general population, but less than 4-year-old children, infants, pregnant or lactating women.
2. For meat and poultry products as they are regulated by USDA and are not covered by NLEA.
3. If the panel must include some of voluntary components not supported by the script. A voluntary component must be included if you make a claim on your label about it or if the food is enriched by it.

Can I use the nutrition facts tool in Canada (UK, Australia, etc.)?

No, this tool is based only on US nutrition facts panel rules. If there are enough interest, I may add other countries at a later time.

Do you guarantee the nutrition facts tool follows FDA rules?

No. I have done my best to follow the FDA formatting rules to the word, but it is a free tool and I don’t guarantee I didn’t make mistakes. I guarantee however to fix promptly any mistake pointed out to me.

How do I get the nutrient values?

The USDA has a database of nutrient values for a large number of food. You can also use a cooking software like Shop’NCook to compute the nutritional analysis from a recipe.

Can I use the nutrition facts labeling tool directly from Shop’NCook software?

Not yet. If there is enough interest, I will add a function to populate up the form directly from Shop’NCook. If you would like such a function, leave a comment or send me a message.

Anyway, do I need a nutrition facts panel on my products?

If you have a small business and don’t make any health claim on your label, you probably don’t need a nutrition facts panel, but you may have to notify the FDA to be able to claim an exemption. When exempt products carry nutritional information, they must however follow the regulation. For a lot of useful information on this and on the type of claims allowed on a food product label, go here.

Get started now with the free nutrition facts label tool!