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Recipe/Estimation limitations

From Open Food Facts wiki

Estimating the recipe from nutritional values does not always work out well. Multiple situations have been identified where the estimation does not work (well).

Low nutritional accuracy

The nutritional data provided by the producer might not be accurate enough. In the case of the strawberry jam (Doce Extra Morango) more accurate data on fiber or salt might allow to distinguish between sugar and strawberries.

Transformed ingredients

The nutritional values of the input ingredients might night always correspond to what comes out.

Removed Constituents

Part of the ingredient might have been removed

Similar ingredients

It might be always possible to distinguish between ingredients based on their nutrition profile. For instance sugar variants with the same nutritional profile. Example for a jam: Doce Extra Morango;

Missing ingredients data

Not all ingredients can be found in the Ciqual or other databases. For these other sources of information need to be found. These ingredients will be listed below:

  • Citric acid (E330) - as this is a single molecule, which is an acid, there is no nutrient;
  • Fat-free cocoa powder
  • Pectin - this is a soluble fiber (wikipedia). Are there multiple variants depending from which the pectin is sourced?
  • Sodium bicarbonate (E500) - does not have any nutrient properties;