Data Transparency
Where our nutrition data comes from, what it covers, and what's missing.
Data Sources
USDA FoodData Central
Nutrient composition data for foods
Visit sourceFDA Daily Values
Reference Daily Values used for % DV calculations
Visit sourceNIH Office of Dietary Supplements
Nutrient fact sheets and dietary guidance
Visit sourceNIH NCCIH
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health — evidence reviews for traditional medicines
Visit sourceSymMap
Integrative database for TCM herb-symptom-target associations
Visit sourceDr. Duke's Phytochemical Database
USDA phytochemical and ethnobotanical database (CC0 public domain)
Visit sourceCMAUP
Collective Molecular Activities of Useful Plants — comprehensive database of medicinal plant compounds
Visit sourceCoverage Overview
USDA Nutrition Data
Foods
111
Nutrients
35
Data Points
2,708
Last Updated
2026-03-11
Traditional Medicine Data
Traditional Ingredients
19
Foods with Properties
12
Evidence Levels
4
Last Reviewed
2026-03-12
By Category
By Evidence Level
Nutrient Coverage
| Nutrient | Foods with Data | Coverage | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | 111 / 111 | 100% | Full |
| Protein | 111 / 111 | 100% | Full |
| Potassium | 110 / 111 | 99% | Full |
| Zinc | 110 / 111 | 99% | Full |
| Phosphorus | 109 / 111 | 98% | Full |
| Magnesium | 108 / 111 | 97% | Full |
| Niacin (B3) | 105 / 111 | 95% | Full |
| Calcium | 104 / 111 | 94% | Full |
| Tryptophan | 101 / 111 | 91% | Full |
| Folate | 100 / 111 | 90% | Full |
| Pantothenic Acid (B5) | 99 / 111 | 89% | High |
| Copper | 95 / 111 | 86% | High |
| Vitamin B6 | 93 / 111 | 84% | High |
| Selenium | 93 / 111 | 84% | High |
| Leucine (BCAA) | 89 / 111 | 80% | High |
| Vitamin E | 89 / 111 | 80% | High |
| Valine (BCAA) | 88 / 111 | 79% | High |
| Choline | 87 / 111 | 78% | High |
| Lysine | 87 / 111 | 78% | High |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 85 / 111 | 77% | High |
| Isoleucine (BCAA) | 83 / 111 | 75% | High |
| Manganese | 81 / 111 | 73% | High |
| Fiber | 80 / 111 | 72% | High |
| Thiamin (B1) | 80 / 111 | 72% | High |
| Vitamin K | 67 / 111 | 60% | Partial |
| Sodium | 61 / 111 | 55% | Partial |
| Vitamin C | 60 / 111 | 54% | Partial |
| Vitamin A | 55 / 111 | 50% | Partial |
| Beta-Carotene | 40 / 111 | 36% | Partial |
| Lutein + Zeaxanthin | 35 / 111 | 32% | Partial |
| Vitamin B12 | 32 / 111 | 29% | Low |
| Omega-3 | 31 / 111 | 28% | Low |
| Vitamin D | 18 / 111 | 16% | Low |
| Iodine | 6 / 111 | 5% | Low |
| Lycopene | 5 / 111 | 5% | Low |
Known Data Gaps
Iodine
USDA SR Legacy does not track iodine for most foods
105 of 111 foods affected
Omega-3
USDA tracks DHA/EPA/ALA separately; plant ALA data is sparse in SR Legacy
80 of 111 foods affected
Update History
Added traditional medicine coverage tracking to audit system; fixed knownDataGaps counts after bone_broth addition
Added 19 traditional ingredients (TCM herbs, adaptogens, mushrooms, Ayurvedic) and TCM/Ayurvedic properties for 12 foods
Added bone_broth, comparisons, goals, and budget meal planning features
Initial audit pipeline — 111 foods, 35 nutrients, 2708 data points from USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy
Methodology
Our pipeline fetches per-100g nutrient data from the USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy database. We convert this to per-serving amounts using standard serving sizes, then calculate % Daily Value using FDA reference values.
- Per-serving conversion: USDA reports nutrients per 100g. We multiply by (servingGrams / 100) to get per-serving amounts.
- % Daily Value: Calculated as (amountPerServing / dailyValue) x 100, using FDA reference daily intake values.
- Omega-3: Combined from DHA, EPA, and ALA values reported separately by USDA. All converted from grams to milligrams.
- Tryptophan: USDA reports in grams; we convert to milligrams for consistency.
- Trace amounts: Entries below 1% DV are excluded to focus on meaningful nutrient sources.
Traditional medicine data is manually curated from peer-reviewed sources including NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), SymMap, and CMAUP databases. Evidence levels reflect the strength of modern research supporting traditional claims: "strong" indicates multiple RCTs or systematic reviews, "moderate" indicates clinical studies with promising results, "preliminary" indicates in-vitro or early-stage research, and "traditional use" indicates long historical use without modern clinical validation.