Food

A Food is any item consumed to provide nourishment, from raw ingredients like fruits and vegetables to composed dishes prepared from multiple components. BetterMenu tracks nutrients, allergens, and dietary classifications for every food item, supporting accurate labeling and menu transparency.

What is a Food in BetterMenu?

In BetterMenu, a Food record represents any consumable item — whether a single raw ingredient or a fully composed dish assembled from multiple components. Each Food carries structured data: nutrients, allergens, dietary classifications, and serving size information. This model mirrors the way regulatory agencies and nutrition science categorize edible items: a food is defined by what it delivers to the body and how its composition must be communicated on a label or menu. The BetterMenu data model distinguishes two primary Food subtypes — raw ingredients and composed dishes — because they differ in how nutrient data is sourced, how allergen declarations are derived, and how labeling obligations are calculated. Both subtypes share the same core data structure.

How does US federal law define "food" under the FD&C Act?

United States federal law defines "food" at Section 201(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), codified at 21 U.S.C. § 321(f). Under that definition, "food" means: (1) articles used for food or drink for man or other animals; (2) chewing gum; and (3) articles used for components of any such article. This broad statutory definition encompasses raw agricultural commodities, processed packaged foods, dietary supplements (subject to their own regulatory subchapter), and ingredient components used in food manufacture. The FD&C Act definition is the legal anchor for the FDA's authority to regulate food labeling, safety, and adulteration. When BetterMenu classifies an item as a Food, it is operating within the same definitional scope: any article intended for human consumption that contributes to nourishment, whether consumed directly or incorporated as a component of a larger dish or product.

Which foods does the FDA regulate versus USDA FSIS?

Not all foods in the United States are regulated by the FDA. Regulatory authority is divided between two agencies based on the type of food product.

The FDA, operating under the FD&C Act, regulates the majority of the domestic food supply — including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, seafood, eggs in the shell, packaged and processed foods, dietary supplements, and bottled water. FDA jurisdiction over food labeling is exercised primarily through 21 CFR Part 101, which establishes requirements for the Nutrition Facts label, ingredient declarations, allergen statements, and nutrient content claims for foods in interstate commerce.

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) holds jurisdiction over meat, poultry, and processed egg products under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act. FSIS oversees mandatory inspection of slaughter and processing facilities, and its labeling regulations govern nutrition labeling on products such as ground beef, chicken breast, deli meats, and liquid egg products. FSIS-regulated products follow different labeling standards from FDA-regulated products, including separate regulations for nutrition labeling found in 9 CFR Part 317 (meat) and 9 CFR Part 381 (poultry). A packaged food that contains both meat and non-meat ingredients may fall under FSIS jurisdiction if the meat content exceeds defined thresholds.

BetterMenu's food records carry a jurisdiction indicator where applicable, enabling operators and manufacturers to identify which regulatory framework governs labeling for a given product.

How is regulatory jurisdiction determined for a food product?

The following diagram shows how regulatory jurisdiction is determined for a food product in the United States.

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graph TD
    A[Food Product] --> B{Contains meat, poultry, or processed egg product?}
    B -- No --> C[FDA jurisdiction — 21 CFR Part 101]
    B -- Yes --> D{Meat or poultry content exceeds FSIS threshold?}
    D -- No --> C
    D -- Yes --> E[USDA FSIS jurisdiction — 9 CFR Part 317 or 381]
    C --> F[Nutrition Facts label per FDA rules]
    E --> G[Nutrition Facts label per FSIS rules]

What are raw ingredients and how does BetterMenu source their nutrient data?

A raw ingredient is a single-food item consumed as-is or used without compositional transformation in a recipe. Examples include fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, dairy commodities, seafood, nuts, seeds, and individual spices. Raw ingredient nutrient data in BetterMenu is sourced primarily from the USDA FoodData Central (FDC) database — the authoritative, publicly accessible nutrient database maintained by the USDA Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central integrates data from multiple component databases, including the Foundation Foods dataset (analytical measurements for minimally processed foods), the SR Legacy database (the historic USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference), Branded Foods (manufacturer-supplied data for commercial products), and the FNDDS (Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, used in national nutrition surveys). Each FDC entry carries a unique FDC ID, which BetterMenu stores as a reference identifier to enable data provenance tracking and future updates when USDA refreshes its analytical values.

How are composed dishes built and how are their nutrients and allergens calculated?

A composed food is a dish assembled from two or more ingredients following a recipe. The nutrient profile of a composed dish is calculated by aggregating the nutrient contributions of each ingredient at its declared weight, adjusted for any cooking-yield or moisture-loss factors specified in the recipe. Examples include Vegan Chickpea Salad, Thai Green Curry, and Spaghetti Bolognese. Unlike raw ingredients, whose nutrient values are sourced from reference databases, composed-dish nutrient values are derived computationally and may reflect post-cooking nutrient retention factors where specified. Allergen declarations for composed dishes are generated by BetterMenu from the union of allergen attributes of all contributing ingredients, propagating any Big 9 allergen (under FALCPA) from ingredient level to the dish level automatically. This automated propagation reduces the risk of allergen omission in menu documentation and supports compliance with 21 CFR 101.4 ingredient declaration requirements.

What properties does the BetterMenu Food data model include?

BetterMenu represents every Food — whether raw ingredient or composed dish — using a unified data structure that records the following properties:

This structure is returned by the BetterMenu API's /foods endpoints and forms the foundation for nutrition label generation, allergen disclosure, and dietary compatibility checks across all platform features.

Why is USDA FoodData Central the authoritative nutrient source for BetterMenu?

USDA FoodData Central is the primary nutrient data source for raw ingredient records in BetterMenu. The FDC database is maintained by the USDA Agricultural Research Service and published at fdc.nal.usda.gov. FoodData Central provides nutrient values per 100 grams of food for over 100 individual nutrients per food item, including all macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, and phytochemicals. The breadth of FDC coverage — spanning over 1 million branded food records and tens of thousands of foundation and SR Legacy entries — makes it the most comprehensive publicly available nutrient reference in the United States. FDC data undergoes periodic review and analytical updates; BetterMenu synchronizes with FDC releases to ensure that ingredient records reflect current published values. Operators and manufacturers using BetterMenu for label generation can reference the FDC ID stored against each ingredient to verify source data directly in the USDA database.

How do different audiences use BetterMenu Food data?

Restaurant and Food Service Operations: Menu management tools use the Food record as the unit of analysis for allergen disclosure, dietary claim validation, and calorie posting compliance under Section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act. A chef configuring a gluten-free pasta dish can attach raw ingredient records, verify that no wheat-derived ingredient is included, and confirm allergen-free status before publishing to the menu. The platform propagates allergen data from ingredient to dish automatically, reducing manual review burden.

Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics: Dietitians conducting dietary assessments reference individual Food records to retrieve nutrient values for patient counseling. The FDC-sourced nutrient data includes values for nutrients relevant to clinical conditions — sodium for hypertension management, potassium for renal diet planning, and folate for prenatal nutrition guidance. Regulatory thresholds such as the FDA's definition of "gluten-free" (less than 20 parts per million of gluten, per 21 CFR 101.91) are cross-referenced against ingredient data to support validated dietary counseling.

Research and Development in Food Manufacturing: R&D teams use the Food API to retrieve and compare nutrient profiles during product formulation. When a new product is formulated from a set of raw ingredients, the platform calculates the aggregate nutrient panel, validates mandatory nutrient declarations against 21 CFR 101.9 requirements, and generates a draft Nutrition Facts label. The jurisdiction field ensures that products containing FSIS-regulated ingredients are flagged for separate FSIS labeling review rather than defaulting to FDA label rules.