Nutrition Planning and Tracking Program
Importing Food Items

The Food Item Import Dialog is used to finalize the importation of a food from the master list to the custom My Foods list.

After you select an item from the master list and click Import this dialog will appear.

The Master Food section displays the item selected. In the Eatometer Food section you customize the item to your needs. Here are the steps you will generally take:

  • Category - select one of your Categories to place this item in. The categories in the Master Database do not generally match those you have defined. Eatometer will remember which of your categories foods from a particular Master category were placed, and automatically select that one. You can always change it. If you enter a Category that is not yet defined, Eatometer will ask if you want to automatically add it.

  • Description - customize the description. Note that the description is limited to 40 characters. You will almost always want to customize the description, the USDA descriptions are long and often repetitive.

  • Scale - if you want the portion to be half the size it is in the master list, enter 50%. To make the portion twice as big, enter 200%. Or any percentage as needed. All nutritional values are automatically and immediately scaled to your specification.

  • Amount - enter the amount of this food that constitutes one portion.

  • Units - enter (or drop down and select) the unit of measure implied by Amount. Be sure to set this value correctly! Especially if you use a Scale factor other than 100%. If your units don't reflect the quantity you imported, your nutritional data will be wrong!
    Also, you can click on Implied Calories to automatically syncronize the calories in your import item to the implied value.

    • Use the Save and Return to Master List button to save the current item to your My Foods list and return to the Master Database list to continue the import process.

    Click the Discard and Return button to discard the current item and return to the Master Database list.

    Important Note!
    You will notice that in the Master Database there are often several entries for the same food, but a different quantity. For example, there may be an entry for 1 tablespoon and another for 1 cup of the same food. When possible, always use the largest quantity possible to import.

    The reason is to avoid mathematical rounding errors, which are more likely to matter on very low values than higher ones. The nutritional values Eatometer stores will be more accurate if you say you ate 1/2 portion of a cup quantity than it will if you say you ate 8 portions of a 1 tablespoon quantity.

    The Food Composition information is included on this dialog. This information is useful for relaying a quick profile of the food's content, and the Implied Calories value, which is a way to note entry typographical errors in the calories, protein, carbohydrate or fat values.