Australian data is a starting point, not a guarantee
The Australian Food Composition Database (AFCD) describes foods commonly available in Australia. FSANZ says its data is mainly based on laboratory analysis, with other methods such as recipe calculations also used. A record represents source data about a food; it is not a laboratory test of the food on your plate.
MorselMetrics’ live core catalogue used AFCD Release 3 when checked on 10 October 2026. Its additional-food lookup also uses a versioned AUSNUT 2023 library. AUSNUT supports Australian dietary survey analysis and draws on laboratory results, labels, recipe calculations and other datasets. Check the provider on the selected food rather than assuming every search result has the same source.
The data sources and methods page explains MorselMetrics’ licences, mappings and calculation limits. This guide focuses on the decisions you make while selecting food.
Read past the first matching word
Search for the ingredient, then read its full description. “Chickpea” is not enough: canned and drained, dried, and chickpea flour are different entries. Keep a short note of how you weighed the food so you can choose consistently next time.
| What you are using | What to look for | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| 240 g canned chickpeas after draining | Canned, drained chickpeas; enter 240 g | A dried-chickpea entry or the tin’s total weight including liquid |
| 150 g unpeeled telegraph cucumber | Telegraph cucumber, unpeeled, raw | A peeled entry chosen only because it appears first |
| Rice weighed after cooking | The matching cooked rice form and that cooked weight | Entering cooked grams against a dry-rice record |
| A particular fortified drink | The actual product and fortification details, where available | Assuming a generic drink has the same added vitamins and minerals |
For a mixed dish, decide whether you are entering its ingredients or using a prepared-dish record. Do not log both for the same portion. An ingredient calculation is easier to inspect when you know your recipe; a generic prepared dish may use different proportions, oil or sauce.
Make the weight agree with the record
Use edible grams in the record’s stated form. Remove parts you will not eat before weighing where practical. For a drained food, weigh the solids after draining. For a packaged liquid reported per 100 mL, keep the volume basis: grams and millilitres are not interchangeable without an appropriate conversion.
A food-match error you can calculate: the AFCD Release 3 records used by MorselMetrics report 6.3 g protein per 100 g for canned, drained chickpeas (F002880), compared with 19.7 g per 100 g for dried chickpeas (F002881).
For 240 g canned, drained chickpeas, the corresponding calculation is 6.3 × 2.4 = 15.12 g protein. Selecting the dried entry for those same 240 g would display 19.7 × 2.4 = 47.28 g. The 32.16 g difference is an input mismatch, not extra protein in your meal.
This does not compare equal starting batches of dried and cooked chickpeas or provide a cooking-yield conversion. It shows why the weight and selected state must agree. Both figures are database-based estimates; your product can differ.
If a recipe uses a spoon or cup, check the recipe’s measurement system and the ingredient-specific conversion. A cup of chopped vegetables and a cup of oil do not have the same mass. Weighing your actual ingredient avoids having to guess a density or how tightly it was packed.
Use the packet to check a branded product
A generic database record can help estimate an ingredient, but it does not establish the current composition of a named brand. Compare the product’s full name, variety and preparation instructions with the entry. If the packet reports “as prepared”, check what must be added before comparing it with the dry product.
FSANZ’s nutrition-panel guidance explains that labels show average quantities per serving and per 100 g or 100 mL. Use the latter to compare like products; the manufacturer’s serving may differ from yours. A standard panel does not report every vitamin and mineral, so an absent micronutrient line cannot establish a zero.
For example, if a packet states 8 g protein per 100 g and you use 75 g, it contributes 8 × 0.75 = 6 g protein. This is an illustrative label calculation, not a named product. If a generic record disagrees, record that limitation; do not quietly combine the packet’s macros and a different food’s micronutrients and call the result fully measured.
Check one food in MorselMetrics
- Open Look up a food. Search a specific ingredient, such as chickpea, in the food explorer.
- Select the complete description. Check its raw, cooked, canned, drained or peeled form and the provider displayed below the name.
- Set your gram amount. For the canned-chickpea example, use 240 g drained food. Check the resulting protein amount against the calculation above.
- Read the nutrient detail. Look through the vitamin, mineral and other component tables. “Not reported” means unavailable data, not a zero. A field that reports zero and a field with no value are different.
- Carry the match into your recipe. In the analyser, check each ingredient again. An automatically suggested match still needs your review.
Repeat this check for the ingredients that contribute most of the recipe’s weight, and for easily confused items such as cooking oils, fortified foods and drained tins. You will get more value from correcting one substantial mismatch than from adding extra decimal places to an uncertain total.
Check the food behind your next entry.
Look up its form, source and portion before using the numbers in a plan.
Keep exploring
Reviewed 10 October 2026. Source links appear beside the relevant guidance. Chickpea figures are adapted from FSANZ AFCD Release 3 records F002880 and F002881, as mapped in MorselMetrics; portion amounts are calculated, not measured. Adapted food data is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 AU, subject to the AFCD data user licence. FSANZ does not endorse MorselMetrics.
Try it with foods and recipes
Compare iron in Australian foods by household serve, then compare recipes by their reported nutrients per serving. Check the food form, recipe yield and missing values before making a comparison.
Turn your chosen recipes into a meal plan and shopping list.