# How does Macro Friendly Meals calculate its numbers? Macro Friendly Meals builds recipe nutrition from ingredient gram weights and per-100-gram food tables maintained on the site—hand-tagged diet flags in Food Finder and an all-ingredient AND rule for recipes. Numbers are editorial estimates, not lab-verified USDA matches. Filters reflect those tags; they cannot screen allergens or replace label reading for packaged sauces and seasonings. ## Key numbers - Food Finder rows are hand-tagged editorial estimates; none are wired to a verified USDA FoodData Central id yet. (MFM methodology) - Recipe calories and macros sum each ingredient’s grams times that food’s stored per-100 g values. (MFM methodology) - Percent-of-calories splits use 4 kcal per gram protein and carbs and 9 kcal per gram fat—the same factors on Nutrition Facts labels. [2] - A recipe diet tag requires every listed ingredient to carry that flag; Vegan meals also satisfy Vegetarian and Pescatarian filters. (MFM methodology) - FDA allows “gluten-free” on packaged food below 20 ppm gluten—we do not verify ppm or cross-contact; check the label on seasonings and sauces. [3] - We do not track the nine major U.S. allergens (including sesame). (MFM methodology) ## From food row to diet filter - **1. Food data:** Ranked Food Finder foods plus recipe-only extras, each with per-100 g macros and hand-set diet flags. - **2. Recipe math:** Listed grams multiplied by each food’s per-100 g values, summed per serving. - **3. AND rule:** A recipe diet flag applies only when every ingredient carries that flag. - **4. Filter:** Food Finder requires every selected diet on the row; Recipes and Build use keys. Vegan recipes also match the Vegetarian and Pescatarian filters. ## Where do the food numbers come from? Food Finder lists ranked foods in Protein, Carbs and Fats groups with kcal, protein, carbs and fat per 100 g and per serving, plus ten diet columns marked when an editor judged the food fits. Those marks are not generated from a rules engine—they are hand-set during data maintenance. Recipes also use vegetables, sauces and spices that do not appear in the public finder list. Most of those extras default to Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescatarian, Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free unless a specific item is flagged otherwise (for example soy sauce is not tagged Gluten-Free). Every food uses an estimate stamp until a future verification pass links a USDA id. ## How are recipe macros computed? Each recipe lists ingredients with gram weights. The site scales each food’s per-100 g macros to those grams, sums kcal, protein, carbs, fat and cost per serving, and derives percentage-of-calories splits from 4 kcal per gram for protein and carbs and 9 kcal per gram for fat—the convention on Nutrition Facts labels. Automatic recipe badges (High Protein, Low-Carb at 20 g carbs or less per serving, Budget, Under 15 Min) come from fixed thresholds. Diet-related keys are added when the all-ingredient AND rule passes. Manual keys such as Meal-Prep are authored on the recipe. Mode swaps change ingredients but are not re-checked for diet tags today. ## What do diet tags and filters mean? On Food Finder, selecting a diet requires the food’s hand-set flag to be true. On Recipes, filters use keys built from the AND rule, so a Vegan meal also matches Vegetarian or Pescatarian filters. Keto, Paleo, Carnivore, Mediterranean and the Low-carb food flag exist only on finder rows—there is no matching recipe filter yet. Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free labels describe the ingredients listed, not shared equipment or every brand variant. On recipe pages, Gluten-Free notes follow the pattern “Gluten-free if your … is labeled gluten-free” when a meal uses packaged extras. Those extras—such as taco seasoning, jarred marinara or chicken broth—are treated as gluten-free in our data unless flagged otherwise; check the label on what you buy. ## Are MFM numbers lab-verified? All published kcal and macro numbers are editorial estimates for planning meals, not laboratory analyses. The site disclaimer states that nutrition values are estimates and not medical advice. Comparing our tables to USDA FoodData Central or a package Nutrition Facts label will often be close, but MFM does not claim verification until a food row carries a USDA id and review date. ## How MFM uses this - [Food Finder](https://macrofriendlymeals.com/food-finder) — Sort and filter hand-tagged foods (plus cost and protein per 100 kcal). - [Recipes (Gluten-Free filter)](https://macrofriendlymeals.com/recipes?keys=gluten-free) — See meals where every listed ingredient passed the Gluten-Free AND rule—check the label on packaged extras. - [Build](https://macrofriendlymeals.com/) — Generate days from the same recipe and food tables using your calorie and macro targets. - [Macros Left](https://macrofriendlymeals.com/macros-left) — Subtract what you have already eaten from your targets using the same estimate philosophy. ## What we can't do (yet) - No allergen screening: almonds, peanut butter, sesame oil and other allergens can appear in recipes without a nut-free or sesame-free filter. - Gluten-Free tags ignore cross-contact, shared fryers and whether a packaged product is certified below 20 ppm—check the label. - Packaged seasonings, broths and sauces in recipes may contain wheat or dairy in some brands even when our generic extra is tagged Gluten-Free or Dairy-Free. - Diet-aware ingredient swaps are not enforced yet; changing a mode could break a diet tag. - Not medical advice: protein targets, calorie math and diet filters are education and meal planning only—talk to a clinician for conditions, pregnancy or eating-disorder history. ## Questions ### Are MFM nutrition numbers copied from USDA FoodData Central? Not directly. Finder foods and recipe extras are maintained as editorial estimates with no USDA FoodData Central id on any row yet. You can compare our tables to FoodData Central, but we do not claim those ids are wired in. ### How does a recipe earn the Gluten-Free tag? Every ingredient in the published gram list must carry the Gluten-Free flag in our food data. That is an AND across ingredients, not a label audit. Oats and similar items stay excluded when flagged; packaged extras still need you to check the label. ### Why might a gluten-free recipe mention checking the label? Some recipe ingredients are packaged extras (seasoning mixes, sauces, broth) that we treat as Gluten-Free by default in our food data. Real products vary—some contain wheat or barley malt. FDA gluten-free labeling means under 20 ppm, which we do not test. ### Can I use MFM to avoid food allergens? No. We do not track the nine major U.S. allergens (including sesame). Read every ingredient statement on packages and menus; MFM is not safe for allergy screening. ### How are calories and macros on a recipe page calculated? We multiply each ingredient’s grams by its per-100 g kcal, protein, carbs and fat, then sum per serving. Percentages of calories use 4 kcal per gram for protein and carbs and 9 kcal per gram for fat—the same factors used on Nutrition Facts labels. General education, not medical advice. For celiac disease, use certified gluten-free products and talk to a doctor or registered dietitian. For food allergy, read every label—MFM cannot screen allergens. For kidney disease, pregnancy, breastfeeding or eating-disorder history, skip DIY calorie math and talk to a doctor or registered dietitian. ## Sources 1. [USDA FoodData Central](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/) 2. [FDA — How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label](https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label) 3. [FDA — Gluten-Free Food Labeling Final Rule](https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/gluten-free-food-labeling-final-rule) Last reviewed: 2026-10-21 by MFM Reviewed against: USDA FoodData Central; FDA Nutrition Facts and gluten-free labeling pages Cite as: Macro Friendly Meals, "How does Macro Friendly Meals calculate its numbers?", https://macrofriendlymeals.com/learn/how-mfm-works, reviewed 2026-10-21.