Custom foods can be created in the Foods tab by going to the second sub-tab labelled Custom Foods.
If the food or supplement you are consuming is not in Cronometer's public database, you can create a custom food instead. If you wish to enter a food that you made at home with multiple ingredients, please create a Custom Recipe instead.
Learn more:
- Creating a Custom Food
- Food Editor Settings
- Submitting your Custom food for Publishing to the CRDB Database
If your food does not have any nutrition information listed on the package, it might be more useful to find a generic version of it from the NCCDB or USDA databases instead. For instance, if you cannot find your brand of bananas in our database, instead try adding the NCCDB listing, ‘Bananas, Fresh’. Check out this Blog Post for more tips and tricks on choosing the best data for your purposes!
Steps to Create a New Custom Food
Click +Add Food
Select the Add Food button on the left hand side of the Foods tab.
Enter a name for your food
We try to name our foods using the schema Brand, Product, Flavor. For instance, if you have some Honey Almond Granola from the Nature’s Path brand, name your food ‘Nature’s Path, Granola, Honey Almond’. You can add multiple names in different languages by selecting the green + button.
Add Notes
You can add a note if there is anything important that you would like to remember about this food. For instance, you could mention that it is gluten free, or if you didn’t like this food. These notes are for your purposes only and are not necessary if you have nothing to add. If you publish your food, the note will not be added to the database.
Choose a Category
Choose a category from the drop-down menu. Choosing a category will allow you to more easily find the food in the future. Choose the category that best describes your product. For instance, categorize Kraft Mayonnaise in Fats & Oils and tag it with Brand and Vegetarian. You can also tag foods with the green buttons below the drop-down menu.
Enter a Barcode
This is a great way to make your food easier to find in the future. If you have entered the UPC code you can scan the food with our barcode scanner to add it to your diary quickly and easily.
Enter a serving size for your food
Ensure you enter the same serving size as that listed on the packaging at the top of the Nutrition label. You can enter additional serving sizes as long as you have entered a weight for your food, by clicking the green + beside Serving Sizes.
If the serving size is 100g enter the serving: [#:1 Measure: Serving Grams: 100]
If the serving size is 4 tablets, enter the serving : [#: 4 Measure: tablets Grams: n/a]
Choose a label type
Changing the label to match your label type will also make entering the values much easier! This is an important step, as European and Australian labels report Carbohydrates differently than American and Canadian Labels.
Enter your data into the Nutrition facts table
Make sure that the data you are entering are for the serving size that you have indicated in the serving size field. If your product contains more nutrition information than that contained in the nutrition facts table, you can add it in the full nutrient breakdown listed below it.
Keep in mind, you are not required to enter all this information - if you simply want us to add it to the community database our curation team will update the nutrition information. However, if you wish to use this food in your diary immediately, it is in your best interest to add the data as completely and accurately as possible.
Food Editor Settings
You can access extra functions in the settings menu of the food Editor.
Delete/Retire Food
Remove the food from your custom foods list. Choosing Delete will remove all diary entries of this food. Choosing Retire will remove the item from your custom foods list, but retain any previous diary entries.
Edit a Copy
This is a useful option to use if you would like to keep this version of your food, but change it slightly and have a second copy of the same food.
Publish Food
Publish the food to our CRDB database. See below for more information.
Display For Printing
View an easy to print version of your custom food with a full view of any notes and nutrients.
Export to CSV File
Export the nutrient data contained in this food to a Spreadsheet format.
Export to JSON File
Export the data from your food to a JSON file. This is an easy way to back up your foods or share your food with another Cronometer user.
Import from JSON File
Enter data directly into a new custom food from an existing Cronometer JSON file.
Submitting Your Custom Food to the CRBD Database
If you have created a custom food listing that is based on nutrition information found on a packaged item, you can submit it to our public database. Choose the settings menu in the top right corner. Then choose Publish Food
You will be presented with the following window. We require clear photos of both the front of the package (including the brand and name of the product) and the nutrition information listed on the package. Please include the barcode number in your submission so that once published the food may be accessed from our Barcode Scanner.